Rapid urbanization without the cities’ ability to accommodate it can lead to the development of poorer area settlements in urban areas. The community, government, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have carried out various interventions to improve the condition of poorer area settlements. However, many problems remain unresolved, including the sustainability issues in poorer area settlement improvement. This study aims to formulate a strategy to ensure the sustainability of poorer area improvement efforts and kampung resilience by applying the concept of incremental housing using RISHA (Rumah Instan Sederhana Sehat), with Kampung Metal (Mepet Tanggul, translated as ‘next to the embankment’ in Indonesian) serving as a case study. Kampung Metal is located near the Bengawan Solo River embankment in Surakarta, Indonesia. Improvement of the housing units with incremental housing can strengthen the kampung resiliency and create a healthy, safe, and sustainable living environment. This study uses a qualitative strategy by conducting observation and content analysis on planning and report documents. The results show that the concept of incremental housing is suitable to be applied as an effort to improve poorer area settlements in Kampung Metal by improving the physical condition of the kampung through community participation to produce a resilient and sustainable living environment.