Fahri Hamzah calls for housing to be treated as a public good

Indonesia's Deputy Minister of Housing and Settlement Areas, Fahri Hamzah, has called for a fundamental shift in how the nation approaches housing. Speaking at the 2026 National Housing Day (Hapernas) event in Jakarta, Hamzah argued that housing should not be treated merely as a commercial commodity or market-driven asset, but rather as a basic human right and a public good similar to essential food supplies.

Hamzah emphasized that the state must play a more active and heartfelt role in ensuring access to decent housing to address issues such as the housing backlog, uninhabitable homes, and slum areas. He suggested that current approaches have failed to produce significant changes and that a new ecosystem is required—one that integrates land availability, spatial planning, purchasing power, and long-term financing.

To achieve this, Hamzah highlighted three critical pillars: state control over land, effective spatial planning, and sustainable financing systems. He noted that transforming unplanned or slum areas into organized urban environments is a key indicator of a nation's progress toward becoming a developed country.