Economic Empowerment and Collaboration of Urban Slum Arrangement: Review the Kotaku Program in Kendari City

Purpose: Evaluating the slum handling program, slum typology, and factors that are challenges (gaps) for socio-economic empowerment in participatory handling of slums.   Theoretical framework: Focus on several theories and concepts about slum settlements, criteria for slum houses, typologies, and empowerment. The subject matter is built from the results of research gaps, phenomena, and empiricism so as to give rise to research positions and novelty.   Design/methodology/approach: This research uses a qualitative approach. Involved 38 key informants, and 53,066 households observed in determining the typology (non-informants). Data were obtained through in-depth interviews, observation, and FGD. Data credibility with data source triangulation techniques.   Findings: Finding a gap between program objectives and the decline in slum settlements, where the implementation program is running well but the area of slum settlements has actually increased. The majority of settlements (typology) are in the category of "heavy slums and light slums". There are five targets for program empowerment, only one namely collaboration is considered good, while others (institutional aspects, human resources, business development, and environmental development) are not good.   Research, Practical & Social implications: Reviewing the criteria for poor households, and techniques for determining areas (slums). Next is the Central Government through the relevant ministries to review the database of budget allocations and other processes for determining the amount of funding allocations so as to avoid data manipulation to obtain additional allocations of funds to the regions.   Originality/value: Disclosure is factual with a qualitative approach to participation