This study aims to analyze resilience from sandwich generation during the pandemics concerning the needs for living place (rusunawa) in city space East Java province. Rusunawa is a part of strategic plan from Flats directorate, ministry of public works and society housing in 2020-2024 which provides new houses for about 107-967 units through program flats building, special house and stimulant budget for constructing new self-subsistent house. Rusunawa is made especially for the people who has low income, and were built in around 18.380 unit. The method of taking data is using in-depth interviews on four members of sandwich generation which located in Malang, Probolinggo, Surabaya, and Sidoarjo also second data resources in form of empirical study report and government documents which related strategic plan rusunawa construction, the number of sandwich generation, also number of possession status of the rental house. The result is the narratives of experiences of sandwich generation for choosing a place to live also the interaction that happened among the sandwich generation in defining urban resilience. This debate happens in the context of understanding and embedding the word of tough and defense city in the thought of the sandwich generation. The economy factor happened dominantly to the sandwich generation for choosing the needs of a place to live other than the capacity of economy capacity, human, also disturbance during pandemic. All together think about the economy capacity which they had in a way of more to choose a place to stay with ste status of 'rental house' than possesed their own house without considering another capacities in the elements of city defense. This thing become contradictory in the middle of effort of the government which getting intense to the evaluation of indicator of the tough city for manifesting city defense.