This article aims to reveal the appropriation of communal sanitation facilities in an urban kampung area of Kampung Cikini, Jakarta. In Indonesia, MCK (mandi, cuci, kakus) refers to a communal facility for bathing, washing, and urinating/defecating. We argue that the urban kampung dwellers’ behaviour in using communal sanitation facilities is a form of appropriation and reappropriation of space which began with the establishment of the urban kampung area. Having conducted observations, interviews, and focus group discussions, we discovered that communal sanitation facilities have undergone continuous appropriation and reappropriation from colonial times until today in a dialectical process. Appropriation and reappropriation can be seen from the physical change of those facilities and their usages in everyday life. Standards of communal sanitation set by the government are negotiated and appropriated by different actors, while reappropriation depends on gender and labour division within the household. © 2023 Editors, Indonesia and the Malay World.