Housing is intimately linked with local and national planning of social and economics policies as well as custom, economics, education and tradition conditions. The World Health Organization (WHO) Expert Committee on The Public Health Aspects of Housing at its meeting in Geneva in 1961 stated that housing is more than the physical structure and recommended to substitute for housing to the term residential environment, meaning the physical structure that man uses for shelter and the environs of that structure including all necessary services, facilities, equipment and devices needed and desire for the physical and mental health and social well being of the family and the individual. 

The residential environment is a core element of community planning. For example, new and existing housing in built up areas is usually connected with community wide or regional sewerage and water supply system, and is served by an area wide refuse collection and disposal organization. The neighborhood that constitutes the residential environment depends on larger segment of the total community for schools, transportation, communication, employment, health facilities, and other public services. Environmental health administrator and public health engineer have primary responsibility to serve as an effective member of, or active participant in the deliberations and relevant programs of concerned local and national agencies. All recognize housing improvement to be a major objective of improved economic and social development and necessary for improved health and environmental conditions.

Conditions of housing and residential environmental as well as its assessments are clearly stated in Decree of Health Ministry of Republic Indonesia No. 829/Menkes/SK/VII/1999. People agree that housing is a prerequisite for mental health although it is difficult to prove the relationship. Futhermore research concluded that people live at the slum area has increase incident of communicable diseases and home accident compared to people live at sanitary housing and clean residential environment.

Keywords: Health conditions, housing, residential environment.