Strategy for Prevention and Quality Improvement of Urban Slumps Based on Community Empowerment

The purpose of this study was to examine the characteristics of slum areas and to analyze strategies for preventing and improving the quality of community empowerment-based slum settlements in Langara City, Konawe Islands Regency. This research method is descriptive qualitative with a case study approach, while the research informants are individuals and groups who are involved in the slum prevention and quality improvement program. The data were collected using in-depth interviews, observation, and document studies, while the data analysis techniques were carried out qualitatively. The results show that the indicators of a slum in Langara City are: the condition and quality of houses are generally less regular, dense, with minimal air and light circulation, environmental sanitation is not supported by wastewater disposal, access to settlements is relatively good, the garbage disposal system is not supported by landfills. Finally, limited distribution of net water, and the unavailability of fire protection. Furthermore, the strategy for preventing and improving the quality of slum based on community empowerment shows 1) slum prevention strategies with indicators: the high rate of community participation in attending counseling on the importance of maintaining environmental health and the high involvement of residents in preventing slums through cooperation, community service, and helping out; 2) slum quality improvement strategy with indicators: high capacity and community involvement in the renovation and restoration of slum shelters; and the low level of public awareness of joining the relocation program in slum pockets.


INTRODUCTION
The problem of slum settlements is still the main problem faced by cities in Indonesia. The high flow of urbanization due to the attractiveness of employment has become a strong magnet for rural communities to work in cities and live on illegal lands, thus creating slum neighborhoods. On the other hand, the minimum urban service standards have not been fulfilled in several legal residential areas, which has an impact on the creation of slum settlements. According to Astuti and Hardiana (2009), settlement policies related to urban slum settlements should be integrated with the perspective of urban poverty alleviation. One of the obstacles for the urban slum community in getting out of the poverty line is that the community institutions in the environment do not provide access to social inclusion, empowerment, and security.
Slum areas are often synonymous with the poor. This perception is not always correct because in slum areas there are also people who are not categorized as poor. Two things characterize an area that is said to be a slum, namely: the area is not or is under-served by supporting infrastructures such as road networks, drainage, sewage channels, and others so that the area tends to experience degradation; and occupancy in the area is seen as unfit for habitation, which is indicated by a lack of ventilation and lighting, in addition to the quality of the building materials which are not suitable as building materials for housing (Basri, 2010). This is confirmed by Scal ED, et.al (in Sarah Abdi, et.al: 2018 andUtchay A Okorji: 2021) that urban slums are characterized by poverty, a housing of poor structural integrity, overcrowding, poor access to water, sanitation, and other facilities, and challenging living conditions overall, which impact their inhabitants directly and indirectly. According to Sueca (in Lestari & Sugiri, 2013) that the emergence of slum areas is an indication of the failure of the housing program which is too prodirective of housing production, especially for the middle and upper economic class. Furthermore, Alwini and Herdiansyah stated that (2018) slum settlements or slums are legal residential neighborhoods with substandard livability conditions or do not qualify for a place of living. Then Begna (2017) defines slums as contiguous settlements where inhabitants are characterized as having (i) insecure residential status, (ii) inadequate access to safe water, (iii) inadequate access to sanitation and other basic infrastructure and services, (iv) poor structural quality of housing, (v) overcrowding.
Cities, which are seen as objects of study where there is a very complex human society, have undergone a process of interrelation between humans and between humans and their environment. The product of this relationship turns out to result in the creation of an orderly pattern of land users that results in urban spatial structures (Jamaluddin, 2015). The unsuccessful development of urban settlements is closely related to urbanization problems, limited urban land, and inaccurate urban development programs, which are the causes of the emergence of slum areas. Government Regulation of the Republic of Indonesia Number 88 of 2014 concerning Guidance for Implementation of Housing and Settlement Areas, is a strategic step for the government to achieve the objectives of implementing housing and residential areas.
Prevention and improving the quality of slum settlements have been mandated by Law Number1 of 2011 concerning Housing and Settlement Areas. The first step in pursuing the target of slum-free cities has actually been started by the Ministry of Public Works since 2014 by compiling a road map for handling slums and updating slum data which was carried out collaboratively with related ministries and the government throughout Indonesia. This is emphasized by Ervianto & Felasari (2019), that alleviating the problem of slum settlements in urban areas can be started by turning slum areas into productive areas and creating an environment that has added economic value for the poor and contributes to environmental conservation that leads to the formation of cities sustainable.
Konawe Kepulauan Regency has been a new autonomous region since 2013, making Langara the capital of the district which is currently the center of development programs and population growth. The existence and incessant development of the development program in Langara City have become a magnet for migrants, both from remote villages and migrants from other regions to work in the trade, service, industrial, government, and other sectors.
The dynamics of development and population growth in Langara City, if not anticipated by development policies and programs based on the protection of good urban planning, have the potential to create problems, namely the proliferation of slum settlements including squatter settlements where people build houses by taking state-owned land or protected forests.
The community empowerment approach is one strategy to reduce the mushrooming of slum dwellings in urban areas. Empowerment means generating resources, opportunities, knowledge, and skills to increase the capacity of the community in developing themselves, including in the prevention and improvement of the quality of slum areas (Wawira & Susan 2017). The community empowerment approach is stakeholder collaboration that initiates cooperation, participation, cooperation, interaction, compromise of several related elements such as individuals, institutions, or parties involved either directly or indirectly. The collaboration contains elements: resources, organization, and norms (LAN, 2014). Another aspect that needs to be considered in community empowerment in slum areas is the involvement of the community in making public policies, namely increasing the sense of community ownership of various regional regulations.
Based on the above, the objectives of this study are: To study and identify the characteristics of a slum in Langara City; as well as producing strategies to prevent and improve the quality of slum settlements based on community empowerment.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
This research method is descriptive qualitative, with a case study approach. Research location in Langara City. To get the depth of data and information, several data collection techniques were carried out, namely observation, in-depth interviews, and document study. Processing and data analysis of this study using qualitative analysis techniques. Data processing and analysis were carried out simultaneously with the research process.

Building condition
The physical condition of most of the buildings in Langara City is inadequate with an irregular building layout, and are relatively dense settlements, especially in coastal areas. Due to the high building density, it is difficult to find green open spaces for environmental parks and playgrounds. Buildings are already attached to one another, thus providing an unpleasant visual image of the environment.
The research data shows that there are two sample villages with moderate building density categories, namely Langara Bajo Village and Langara Iwawo Village, index 1-3.99/Km 2 , and one area, Langara Laut Village, high-density category, index more than 4, 00/Km 2 .
The research findings show that two factors cause the emergence of densely populated settlements in Langara City, namely: the factor of concentration and the availability of socioeconomic facilities. The population concentration factor is population density due to the attractiveness of Langara City as the center of government and economic growth. Meanwhile, socio-economic facilities are factors of land-use change such as additional land for settlement; increasing the length of the road for transportation; public support facilities, education, health, shops, food stalls, and so on.

Environmental Accessibility
The road network has an important role in supporting the activities of residents in Langara City and its surroundings, as well as connecting between sub-districts. The results of the observation show that the roads that connect between villages and the alleys that connect each house in the neighborhood can be traversed by two-wheeled and four-wheeled vehicles. Approximately 70% of the sample households are connected to housing on a regional scale and 90% have the connection between parcels at the regional scale.
The dynamics of life and activities of residents in Langara City are described by the existing road network. The road network not only serves as a transportation route but also describes broader activities, such as economic, cultural, social contact, religious activities, and so on. This can be seen in the activities of utilizing roads for trade routes, inter-district/village passenger activities, and so on.
Some of the problems that exist in the road network in Langara City are road damage, narrow road dimensions, puddles in the road body, and roads with holes so that some parts of the road cause inconvenience for motorists, including accidents due to inadequate road conditions.

Environmental Drainage
The findings of the study indicate that problems related to environmental drainage in Langara City include: narrowing of the canals due to blockage of garbage, accumulation of garbage due to the unavailability of temporary dumps, clogged water flow, and damage to most of the sedimentation channels.
The still low drainage network service is due to the high level of standing water at several points when it rains, poor drainage conditions and not according to technical standards, and the condition of roads that have drainage only around 40%. Based on the research data, it shows that, of the 84 sample households, only 26 households, or 30.95% have drainage. Furthermore, related to the quality of drainage, it shows that in addition to the many road areas that do not have drainage, several drainage sections that have been built have suffered damage, both minor and severe.

Drinking-Water Services
Drinking water is a type of good quality resource and is commonly used by humans for consumption or in carrying out daily activities and fulfills the requirements for irrigating rice fields, for drinking water treatments, and for treating water sanitation. Based on the data, it shows that 96.43% of sample households have used pipes as a source of drinking water; then 3.57%, still using drilled wells and dug wells. The fulfillment of water needs in Langara City is supported by the availability of 2 water reservoirs in Bukit Permai and Lanowatu villages, which are capable of generating a water debit of up to 0.6 cubic/second.
The findings of the study show that the supply of clean water that flows to residents 'houses by means of a piped system is quite smooth and in general, it can meet residents' needs for washing, bathing, and cooking activities. Every day the water flows into the residents' houses for a duration of 7-12 hours, so residents only need to prepare a reservoir in their respective homes.

Wastewater Management
One of the services coverage in waste management is the availability of family latrines. The family latrine is a building used to dispose of and collect human waste so that the waste is stored in a certain place and does not cause disease to spread and pollute the residential environment.
The findings of the study reveal that of the 84 sample households, almost half of them do not have representative family latrines, namely 41 households (48.81%). The typology is that there is still community behavior open defecation, one latrine is used for several households and latrine utilization. emergency.

Solid Waste Management
The research findings show that the people in Langara City generally use a communal solid waste system or throw garbage anywhere, such as dumping on seawater. The habit of throwing away communally, due to the lack of temporary disposal places. This can be seen in the data on the availability of landfills in sample households, namely only 10 samples or 11.90%; while 74 households or 88.10% still dispose of garbage communally.

Fire Protection
The findings of the research show that the source of water used for fire protection is the availability of storage tanks in Lanowatu and Bukit Permai villages that are capable of producing 0.6 cubics of water/second. The scope of fire protection services is that an adequate environmental road is required for a fire engine, namely an environment with a road width of 3.5 m. The research findings show that some roads in residential access are less than 3 meters or 2 meters so that the existing roads are generally inadequate for fire cars.

Strategy for Prevention and Quality Improvement of Slum Settlement Based on Community Empowerment 1. Community Empowerment Based Prevention Strategy
The scope of community empowerment activities in the effort to prevent slums in Langara City is carried out through the following activities: First, counseling is an activity to provide information in increasing public knowledge and awareness regarding the prevention of slum settlements. The types of counseling provided include not littering, providing temporary disposal sites, procuring and utilizing family latrines, utilizing clean water, anticipating fire hazards, and so on.
Extension activities are not only held by related agencies such as the Housing and Settlements Service, the Public Works Service, the Disaster Management Agency, the Environment Service, and the Health Service; also carried out by non-governmental organizations. The research findings show that the level of community participation in participating in extension activities is quite high, as in the following table. Based on table 1, shows that holistically the level of community participation in slum prevention counseling is quite high, where 66.67% say they are active and 33.33% are not. Furthermore, based on regional data, it shows that the majority of residents are active, except in Langara Laut Village and Langara Bajo Village, more tend to not participate.
The high level of community participation in counseling is an indicator of the high level of public awareness of an environment that is clean, healthy, free from disease, and free from slums. For example, so far the community's habit is to dispose of wastewater and rubbish on seawater flowing under the house. However, in fact, not all of the discarded waste is carried away by seawater, because sometimes it becomes clogged under the house which is held up by the pillars and foundation of the house. Not to mention that if the condition of the house is not supported by waste disposal it will further aggravate the pile of garbage.
A number of residents admitted that participating in counseling greatly influenced their behavior in disposing of garbage, including providing temporary trash cans. Ironically, their awareness in obeying the importance of protecting the environment from slums is not accompanied by an awareness of other residents, because the fact is that there are still residents who do not care about cleanliness in the environment.
Second, coaching is an activity to provide instructions on how to carry out or prohibit activities related to the prevention of the development of slum dwellings, by practicing directly on procedures for maintaining the home environment, procuring house facilities, cleaning roads and gutters, constructing septic tanks, constructing disaster-resistant houses, and so on.
The results showed that the pattern of mentoring carried out began with a group discussion forum. Through the group discussion forum, the participants and the facilitator exchanged experiences related to problems and challenges faced in the slum conditions and the efforts made to overcome them. In the implementation of the group discussion forum, it was found that there were still many residents who did not understand the procedures for maintaining slum shelters, so a coaching strategy was needed. The following table shows the level of change in the capacity of the community in the slum area after participating in the training. Based on table 2, shows that there was a significant increase after residents participated in slum quality prevention guidance, where 75% said it had increased and 25% said it had not increased. The mechanism for community development in preventing the quality of slum dwellings is carried out through the cooperation of the Village and Sub-District Governments, District Governments, elements of regional apparatus organizations, and stakeholders who have the responsibility in handling slum dwellings.
The results of the interview with the informant Hs 46 years (village head Langara Indah) show that: the people in our area are very enthusiastic about following the guidance from the Housing Agency regarding the condition and feasibility of buildings in coastal areas. Citizens' knowledge will increase, about building materials that can be used for a long time, lighting systems, building density, foundation construction, and how to set house spacing (Interview, July 17, 2020).
Another example of coaching is the creation septic tank for wastewater disposal. So far, the majority of residents live in coastal areas, throwing dirt and waste directly from their houses. But in fact, dirt and waste, including rubbish dumped from the house, are partly not directly into the sea, causing a bad smell and becoming a nest for flies and mosquitoes.
The Public Works Office in collaboration with the Health Office is a technical agency that directly provides guidance to residents on ways of making, utilizing, and maintaining septic tanks. The role of the Public Works Office, apart from providing assistance in the procurement of septic facilities, also provides guidance on how to install the equipment using a participatory approach with the community. Meanwhile, the role of the Health Office is to provide guidance on how to use septic cancer and its maintenance efforts so that it can be useful and function for a long time.
The research findings also reveal that of the 8 sample villages, 4 areas including Langara Laut Village, Mata Langara Village, Bukit Permai Village, and Langara Laut Village, have allocated a budget from village funds for guidance and training. life skills related to the maintenance of environmental facilities, technical manufacturing of septic tanks, guidance for making trash cans, and so on. This is in synergy with the opinion of Joenso and Sari (2020) that improving the quality of settlements can be carried out on infrastructure and facilities that are still not in accordance with applicable standards and criteria, such as repair and construction of environmental roads, construction of environmental drainage channels, provision of clean water network systems, management wastewater, construction of waste management facilities in the form of advice for transportation and disposal of communal waste, provision of portable pumps and hydrants for fire protection. The results of the guidance and training are expected to increase the capacity and ability of the community to protect their dwellings from slums so that a clean, comfortable and safe environment can be created.

Community Empowerment Based Quality Improvement Strategy
The strategy for improving the quality of slum settlements based on community empowerment in Langara City is carried out by using the approach or pattern of handling: restoration, renovation, and resettlement.

Community empowerment in restoring slum shelters
The findings of the study show that the pattern of restoring slum dwellings in Langara City is one of the most effective strategies because generally people's houses are located in coastal areas; less feasible both from the structure of the building, the facilities used, the reliability of the building, and its ecological carrying capacity.
The positive side is that the residents' land ownership is supported by an official certificate issued by the land office so that the community will definitely reject them for relocation due to constraints on the social and economic adaptation process in a new place. In addition, the community settlement system with indications of a slum in the coastal area has very high communal strength because it is tied to the same source of livelihood as fishermen so that the rehabilitation management program is effective because it is supported by social capital ties to help one another.
Community empowerment in restoring slum dwellings is complex because it is not only limited to community participation in supporting government policies in stages starting from the central government to village/sub-district governments, but there is a synergy of ideas, expertise, synergy, and collaboration that utilize all the potential of the community such as social capital, mutual cooperation, community figures, and socio-cultural institutions.
The research findings show that community empowerment in restoring slum dwellings encourages the active involvement of residents to help their relatives, relatives, and neighbors in repairing and replacing parts of the house that are no longer suitable and have the potential to interfere with the safety of their residents.
The results of interviews with the Village Head of Langara Bajo show that: in 2019, our village received 10 houses for renovating Aladin houses (roofs, floors, walls) from the Housing and Settlement Service. The government provided materials, while the renovation of their houses was carried out by mutual cooperation of the residents (Interview, 22 August 2020).
The pattern of mutual cooperation and cooperation carried out by residents in assisting village development programs is a model of empowerment based on local initiatives that are ingrained in thoughts, attitudes, and actions. The socio-cultural reality of the people in slum settlements, who mostly work as fishermen, have had a longstanding cooperative relationship, especially in fishing activities. So what needs to be constructed is to change the paradigm of empowerment from a locality pattern of empowerment to an empowerment pattern initiated by formal leaders through the leadership of the village head and village head.
According to the residents' assumption, the slum restoration program is a program that has a large budget, so that when residents are mobilized to participate, the majority ask for compensation. Whereas the essence of empowerment is in the form of facilities and funds, while the process requires community self-help. The Village Head as formal leaders has the duty and role to change the people's mindset, especially increasing awareness and capacity so that they have the responsibility to participate in the development by not prioritizing the value of compensation but the value of togetherness.
The results of the approach, education, and outreach carried out by formal leaders are in fact quite effective in encouraging community empowerment in restoring slum dwellings in sample villages. This can be seen in the high involvement of citizens to work together, as in the following table. The findings of the study also reveal that restoration of slum dwellings is not only a government program whose budget allocation comes from the village funds, there are also restoration activities that are a hereditary habit of residents. The housing conditions of the residents, who are mostly located in coastal areas, are constructed from simple wood, allowing the renovation to take place faster.
The pattern of community empowerment in restoring slum dwellings also varies. In addition to the majority of residents contributing in the form of skills and energy, some residents contribute in material form. Usually, they are patron groups that are economically employed by their clients. Increasing the skills of residents in slum neighborhoods, in synergy with the findings of Reza, et al. (2017) that strategies to prevent the growth and development of slum settlements are carried out with various programs, namely capacity building through socialization and education regarding building regulations, environmental infrastructure management, fire disaster mitigation, the environment healthy housing, improving skills for poor households, and controlling green zones around residential areas.
The empowerment pattern of local value-based slum dwellings has turned out to be distracting for policymakers in programming the restoration, so that in budget planning, both budget user proposals and community development proposals based on Musrembangdes, no longer include a component of honoraria for restoration but are included in the selfhelp system, mutual cooperation, and participation.

Community Empowerment in Slum Shelter Rejuvenation
The handling of slum dwellings by means of a renovation approach is carried out in residential areas that are really in the heavy slum category. Usually done in densely populated settlements, lowincome communities, and high enough socioeconomic competition and potentially prone to crime. The aim of renovating slum dwellings is to create better housing, settlement, and environmental conditions to protect the safety and security of residents and the surrounding community.
The research findings indicated that there were several points of residential locations that were relevant for replanting, especially in coastal villages or houses above the sea. These villages include Langara Bajo Village, Langara Laut Village, and Mata Langara Village. However, the obstacles are, apart from the location of temporary shelters and the budget burden, there is also the potential for resistance from the community because they have to temporarily relocate residents during the renovation process.
Slum handling policies with renovation must have careful planning through a synergy of community empowerment approaches with government and private commitments through adequate regulatory and budget support.
Based on this, community empowerment in the rejuvenation of slum dwellings, one of which is through increasing the capacity and role of the internal community, through a series of actions. The trick is multi-level changes within individuals, groups, organizations, and systems to strengthen the adaptability of individuals, groups, and organizations so that they can be responsive and responsive to changes in the existing environment.
The community must be made aware that the renovation process for slum dwellings is only carried out temporarily so that when they are relocated, residents must accept. However, it is not uncommon to find reluctance or rejection due to reasons: access to a fairly remote livelihood, decreased income, an adjustment in a new place, and the atmosphere of living in an old environment has become a habit. The following table presents the community response to the renovation of slum dwellings. Processed Primary Data, 2020. Based on table 4, shows that the majority of residents (88.10%) agree with the slum renovation program on the grounds that it is to provide comfort, peace, and security to new housing. Meanwhile, 11.90% stated that they did not agree with the reasons: problems of temporary housing, access, and livelihood considerations.
The findings of the study indicate that the location where slum renovation has been carried out is in Langara Laut Village. There are about 30 houses of residents who occupy the seafront area with structural and building conditions made of simple, tight and dense materials, as well as no road access, so they have to use boat facilities if the tide is to get to the road. Not to mention the abrasion conditions of seawater which can at times wash away people's homes when the tide waves.
From the aspect of community empowerment, the support of existing institutions in the village is quite proactive in providing contributions such as ideas, material donations, and especially nongovernmental organizations in slum renovation locations. The findings above are in synergy with the results of the research of Elem & Onu (2021) that government to embark on urban slums upgrade that is pro-low-income earners.
The research findings reveal that the collaboration of village institutions is quite effective in supporting the rejuvenation of slum dwellings, through the involvement of youth organizations, youth mosques, health organizations, religious organizations, and fishing groups. A form of their support and concern in addition to supporting morally and materially as an institution; also residents are willing to temporarily accommodate relatives/neighbors, friends, and relatives whose houses are temporarily being rejuvenated.
Village governments, village institutions and communities assist in the renovation process of slum dwellings through measured and innovative activities and actions, such as: 1) Provision of locations to accommodate materials (sand, cement, zinc, boards, blocks, etc.; 2) Provision of posts public kitchen for the consumption of residents in mutual cooperation activities; 3) Community involvement in the demolition and cleaning of residents' houses; 4) Identification of skilled workers such as carpenters and masons to assist experts prepared by the government; 5) Community involvement in the renovation process, starting from the process of installing foundations, house frames, buildings, roofs, walls, floors, making toilets, installing water pipes, and installing electrical installations; 6) Community cooperation in structuring slum residential areas through the construction of roads made of wooden bridges for access from house to house, post-construction cleaning, sanitation improvement, waste water disposal and garbage disposal; 7) Cooperation and mutual cooperation in helping residents move into a rejuvenated house; 8) Protection through outreach and counseling related to rejuvenated house maintenance patterns through the role of related stakeholders.

Community Empowerment in Slum Relocation
The relocation policy is carried out by moving the affected people from slum residential locations that are impossible to rebuild because they are not by spatial planning or disaster-prone areas and can cause harm to property and people.
The research findings show that the policy of relocating slum dwellings in Langara City, apart from being carried out on residential land that is not by spatial planning, is also carried out on people's land where land is held for public facilities, such as the construction of hospitals, ring roads, construction of regent offices, and expansion of the port.
The relocation of slum settlements is targeting some residential areas that live in coastal areas with land structure conditions that are prone to abrasion during high tide and even the potential for a tsunami because it is very close to the high seas. In addition, the relocation policy also considers economic aspects, especially the decreasing income level of fishermen due to the catching area, the lack of production equipment, and inadequate facilities such as jetty because it is not possible to build them due to non-ecological land conditions. The policy and program for the relocation of some slum residential areas, initially there were many protests and received action from residents, for many reasons: 1) The process of moving shelter from coastal areas to land requires adaptation; 2) Access as fishermen through fishing activities will be very difficult when they are on land; 3) The potential for the reduction of some elements of social capital, especially those characterized by coastal communities; 4) Psychologically, the relocation process will take a long time, so there will be stress and psychological burdens in the new place.
Community empowerment interventions in the relocation of slum settlements are directed at mentoring and counseling residents who will be relocated for a number of reasons and arguments, such as reasons for family safety, reasons for environmental management, economic and production reasons, and reasons for citizen participation in area management. Through mentoring and counseling, residents will be aware and believe that the relocation program carried out by the District Government has important implications and benefits for residents in the context of increasing community independence and welfare.
The results of interviews with informant H. Bh (62 years) in Langara Laut Village show that: at the beginning of the relocation program launched by the government, we really objected because we were going to move our house, which we had lived in long ago, from our ancestors to our children. However, because of the approach and counseling provided by government officials and community leaders, we realize that the safety of our family is much more important for the future (Interview, September 2, 2020).
Community empowerment interventions in the relocation of slum settlements also require the involvement of community institutions and external communities to assist local governments. The presence of non-governmental organizations and media coverage has also opened up public awareness of the importance of relocation. Community organizations are at the forefront of meeting community leaders, religious leaders, and traditional leaders regarding the benefits of relocation for long-term balance and sustainability. This correlates with the findings of Agrawal (2014) local governments should develop strategies to prevent the formation of new slums. These should include access to affordable land, reasonably priced materials, employment opportunities, and basic infrastructure and social services.
The slum relocation program in Konawe Kepulauan Regency which was implemented in 2017-2018, uses a special allocation fund sourced from the State Budget with a total of 120 houses. Meanwhile, the regional government bears the costs of area arrangement, drainage, road construction, drinking water supply, temporary garbage disposal sites, and fire protection originating from the regional expenditure budget. The commitment of the local government is correlated with Udin's (2018) research gradual replacement of slums and squatter settlement with better residential quarters is also a policy issue for government and local institutions.

CONCLUSION
Slum characteristics in Langara City, Konawe Islands Regency, show: the condition of the building or house is generally irregular due to inadequate building technical requirements; environmental accessibility has a fairly smooth connection between villages/sub-districts and between households, with asphalt and gravel road conditions; drinking water services are not yet adequate, where more than 90% of the residents get clean water program services with a limited allocation; Most of the wastewater services are not supported by a good drainage system and some residents still use simple toilet disposal; waste disposal system is carried out conventionally because the support for landfills is not yet available, and the fire protection system has not been supported by the availability of a fire fighting fleet.
The strategy for preventing and improving the quality of urban slum settlements based on community empowerment in Langara City, Konawe Islands Regency is focused on efforts to prevent and empower the community through counseling, coaching, technical assistance, improving the socioeconomic conditions of low-income communities (MBR), improving the quality of resources human and natural resources, and encouraging community participation through strengthening social capital and mutual cooperation in the renovation, restoration, and relocation program of slum dwellings.