Research Project - Low-Cost Housing Issues

Chapter 1: Introduction

Today, humans all around the world is widely agreed that the concept of housing is very important to everyone’s quality of life and health with considerable significance in economic, social, cultural and personal sections of life. As residential is the basic needs of every human being whose home is a shelter to provide comfort and comfort to its inhabitants. The residence is also adopted as a human right.

However, residential property market in Malaysia has experienced significant price expansion over the past fifteen years with prices, at several states, expanded in higher rates. As economic theory has explained, the price movement is inherent with the regional economics and the regional demographics such as income, cost of capital, stock prices, and population change. However, sudden price change could affect home ownership to some extent. Under any circumstances, the needs of housing as a basic necessity persist. This is the reason of the presence of low-cost housing. Despite the seeming progress that have been achieved in urban cities of developing countries included Malaysia on building practices, issues in different aspect of low-cost housing is still a challenge.

1.1  Aims & Objective

This paper is aimed at deeply analyzing these practices, like space planning, architectural design consideration, material usage, and found out what the issues faced by residents of low-cost housing in one of the urban cities with Malaysia as a study area. The issues will be classified into three aspects, which were practical, psychological & emotional, and community. For practical aspect will be discuss about building structure, building material, facilities provided, and space planning. Next, under psychological and emotional aspect will be focus on the feeling experience of the users in low-cost housing. Lastly, the community aspect will discuss about the community sharing space, which mean a space for low-cost housing users spend time with their neighbors.

1.2  Research Methodology

The method used to study about the issues is reading articles about issues of low-cost housing in Malaysia, doing survey and interview to the residents of low-cost housing. Other than that, will be study precedent studies of low-cost housing in good design from Malaysia and other countries. Also listing down the solution based on the issues which has been found. However, the solution will be considered about sustainable as energy efficient building also can provide a low-cost system.

1.3 Introduce of People’s Housing Program (PPR) in Malaysia

Malaysia is one of the developing country. Various efforts have been made to develop Malaysia as a developed country. Malaysia adopts staged planning where the Malaysian approach has been planned and the Poor People Development Program (PPR) has been implemented and implemented. PPR is one of the programs contained in the Seventh Malaysia Plan (1996-2000) to eradicate poverty.

Figure 1: People’s Housing Program (PPR) in Malaysia – The Malaysian Insight file pic, June 5, 2018

PPR (Program Perumahan Rakyat), also known as People’s Housing Program was built and provided by the government, it aims to help the poor and low-income subordinates that was unable to buy and rent their own homes. People’s Housing Program (PPR) was built under the two programs, which were PPR owned and PPR rent, it was using the design specification and design of low-cost housing set by the National Housing Standards for Low Cost Housing Flats (CIS3: 2005). PPR owned houses sold at a price level between RM30,000.00 and RM35,000.00 per unit in Peninsular Malaysia and Sabah and Sarawak RM40,500.00. For rental rates PPR sale is RM124.00 per month. Features of PPR are as follows, type terraced house between 5 to 18 levels in the areas of big cities, landed properties in coastal and suburban, the capacity is with 700 sq. ft. For the construction are having two types, which were 3 Bedroom, 1 Living Room, 1 Living Kitchen, 2 Bathrooms in a lot, and 2 Bedroom, 1 Living Room, 1 Living Kitchen, 1 Bathroom in a lot. Facilities provided are, community council for the space people, prayer room, public food stall, retail space kindergarten, playground handicapped facilities, and also open space home trash.

[http://ehome.kpkt.gov.my/index.php/pages/view/133]

List of Public Housing Program in Malaysia

No	Project	No. unit
Amount	.	24,343
1	Kampung Batu Muda PPR , Kuala Lumpur	2,132
2	PPR Lembah Pantai , Kerinci , Kuala Lumpur	1,896
3	PPR KL Linear City 2 Phase 1 , Kuala Lumpur	1,264
4	PPR KL Linear City 2 Phase 2 , Kuala Lumpur	632
5	Kampung Seri Malaysia PPR , Kuala Lumpur	632
6	PPR Kampung Malaysia Permai , Kuala Lumpur	632
7	Sungai Bonus PPR , Water Jernih , Kuala Lumpur	316
8	PPR Kampung Baru Air Panas , Kuala Lumpur	1,896
9	PPR Bukit Jalil 1 , Kuala Lumpur	1,896
10	PPR KTM Taman Kampar , Perak	29
11	PPR Buntong , Perak	416
12	PPR Balung 2 , Tawau	500
13	PPR Telipok , Kota Kinabalu	2,174
14	PPR Telipok Ria , Kota Kinabalu	2,400
15	PPR Batu 5 , Kuching	816
16	PPR Tampoi , Johor	2,252
17	PPR Tebrau , Johor	2,000
18	PPR Sri Stulang , Johor	1,500
19	PPR Pasir Pelangi , Johor	960

 [https://ms.wikipedia.org/wiki/Program_Perumahan_Rakyat]

Chapter 2: Issues of Low-Cost Housing

2.1 Exterior

 

Figure 2&3: Double park at low-cost housing estates (PPR Titiwangsa) and chairs occupy parking lot (PPR Taman Ikan Emas).

Lack of parking area in the low-cost housing area is known by everyone, this problem was happening to all the low-cost housing areas. PPR is a government flat built to meet housing needs for low-income people and to relocate squatter. The big problem faced by the People's Housing Project (PPR) in Kuala Lumpur today is due to weak planning, said Federal Territorial Deputy Chairman Dr Hatta Ramli. According to Dr Hatta, the major problem faced by most PPRs in Kuala Lumpur, especially in Titiwangsa is a very limited parking space. As the figure shown above, residents are double park or even triple park at low-cost housing area. Other than that, residents also using chairs to occupy a parking lot for themselves while they are going out for working.

  

Figure 4&5: Showing the plants at ground floor exterior area (PPR Taman Ikan Emas) and plants at corridor of fifth floor corridor (PPR Taman Ikan Emas).

Same as the clothes drying area, for the ground floor residents, they don’t really have the problem of planting area, but to the residents who stay on first floor or above, they are facing lack of planting area. Residents who stay on first floor and above can’t fulfill their wish to have some greenery plants around their house area, they only can plant at the corridor, but this will become part of the blocking corridor walkway object.

 

Figure 6&7: Playground facilities been used to hanging clothes (PPR Taman Ikan Emas) and muddy puddles field (PPR Taman Ikan Emas).

Playground area lack of maintenance. The playground area has been used to hanging clothes, and the field have become muddy puddles it causes the children has no place to have fun. This was affecting a children’s childhood memory.

 

Figure 8&9: Staff storage at corridor corner (PPR Taman Ikan Emas) and staircase area (PPR Taman Ikan Emas).

Ventilation system in public space can be improve as it will affect residents’ health if the ventilation not enough. The reason of this problem happening is lacking consideration of ventilation flow design and because of lack of storage, residents store their things at the corridor, it makes the public walking space narrow and small.

Figure 10&11: Missing of drainage cover (PPR Taman Ikan Emas) and survey rates about safety issue (PPR Taman Ikan Emas).

Drainage cover been stolen. Crimes and disorder cases is frequent happened in the PPR area, it caused residents afraid to going out of their house. The survey rates for safety problem is more to dissatisfied as it is depending on the low-cost housing stated location. Safety problem in psychological & emotional aspect is showing the feeling of worry safety problem happen to the residents.

Figure 12: Leaking water tank.

Figure 13: Unmanaged garbage problems.

Garbage management problem and recycle area management problem. To date, over 600,000 people live in PPR houses and low-cost houses in Selangor. Among the problems faced by PPR and low-cost houses are the leaking roofs, damaged lifts, blockage pipes and unmanaged garbage problems. These management problems should be take as a priority changes in PPR area, as it will affect the user’s health.

Figure 14&15: Color of PPR building (PPR Taman Ikan Emas) and survey response about color ambiance of PPR building.

Residents who rated for dissatisfied to the overall building ambiance comment that the existing color is too strong for them. Almost 80% of residents rated that they are more prefer to the warm color palette, to look more comfortable.

Figure 16&17: The survey response data of the frequency residents meet their neighbour, and public food stall (PPR Taman Ikan Emas).

More than 40% of residents are meeting with their neighbor in everyday. The location for them to spend time with each other except the public food stall is downstairs of PPR. They do not have a proper place for them to sit down and relax talk and sharing things with each other.