High population growth is inevitable, especially in developing countries like Indonesia. As we know, population growth in an area is determined by two important things, fertility and urbanization rates. Indonesia as the fourth most populous country in the world and now has serious problems in terms of population, the population growth is never proportional to mortality. In 1980, Indonesia had a population of 147 million, which has now grown to 265 million in 2018, or a growth of 3 million annually. Thus, population density figures are increasing certainly national-wide. Urbanization and population growth have become the main focus of population problems, which have become the main focus of the Indonesian government in the spatial and infrastructure sector in recent times.

Urbanization is defined as the level of concentration of the urban population in terms of the percentage of the population in the region, which is influenced by natural growth, migration, and changes in the classification of urban areas. Urbanization numbers in Indonesia are now in the spotlight of the world which 49.9% of the national population now occupies major cities in 2010 and is projected to continue to grow to 60% in 2025. Of course, Indonesia’s economic growth as a developing country in the industrial sector which mostly takes place in urban areas is the main consequence of the unstoppable urbanization of rural-urban migration. In Southeast Asia, Indonesia also has a high percentage of urban population as well as in the Philippines, Malaysia, and Singapore. While the size of the city tends to be permanent, urbanization will produce more severe urban problems if not accompanied by the provision of facilities and good planning. When those things happen, urbanization will result in slums in various corners of the city.

Dense settlement and slums are the impacts of population growth including irregular urbanization in the management of the city life. Slums are slum areas and are one of the government’s emergency tasks in implementing sustainable urban housing and spatial development programs. Of course, slums will harm the environment, health, living standards of urban residents, and the growth of crime rates. Globally, the number of urban slum dwellings is estimated to have reached 210 million in the period 1990 – 2012. In Southeast Asia, the number of slum dwellings has risen from 31% to 39.6% in 12 years. This is also being faced by big cities in the largest country in Southeast Asia, such as in Indonesia.