A CASE STUDY ON THE SPATIAL PRACTICES OF CONSTRUCTION SITE WORKERS' QUARTERS IN KLANG VALLEY, MALAYSIA
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.21837/pm.v22i32.1518Keywords:
Construction centralised labour quarters, migrant workers, socio-spatial qualities, spatial practicesAbstract
This paper examines the spatial practices of construction worker housing in construction sites. In recent years, several standards and guidelines, such as MS 2593:2015 and Act 446, were implemented to improve the living environment of workers' temporary accommodation. Despite that, there is a lack of focus on the sociality of spaces as the design of these accommodations adhered to only basic spatial requirements. This resulted in prolonged issues of workers’ poor living environment being unresolved. A qualitative study using physical trace observation was conducted in a construction workers' accommodation located within an urban construction site in Klang Valley, Malaysia. Spatial observations were conducted in private areas, such as the bedrooms and the common areas, including the kitchen and dining spaces. This study reinforces the spatial practices of negotiation within the contested spaces of the temporary accommodation through the dynamic and fluid functional re-appropriation of spaces in the common and private spaces and the expansion of personal territory at both macro and micro levels.
Downloads
References
Abu Bakar, A., & Mohamed Osman, M. (2021). Satisfaction with Life and Human Needs Fulfillment. Planning Malaysia, 19(18). https://doi.org/10.21837/pm.v19i18.1045 DOI: https://doi.org/10.21837/pm.v19i18.1045
Abu Bakar, A. (2022). Hierarchy of Needs and Subjective Wellbeing. Planning Malaysia, 20(24). https://doi.org/10.21837/pm.v20i24.1213 DOI: https://doi.org/10.21837/pm.v20i24.1213
Annisa, S. (2020). Chapter 4: Understanding the Housing Needs of Low-Skilled Bangladeshi Migrants in Oman - Case Study of a Labour Camp and Migrant-Dominant Neighbourhood. In Housing and Human Settlements in a World of Change. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1515/9783839449424-007 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/9783839449424-007
Beckford, C. (2016). The Experiences of Caribbean Migrant Farmworkers in Ontario, Canada. Social and Economic Studies, 65(1), 153–188.
Beeckmans, L., Gola, A., Singh, A., & Heynen, H. (2022). Making Home(s) in Displacement: Critical Reflections on a Spatial Practice. Leuven University Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv25wxbvf
Bernama. (2022). Many bosses indifferent to welfare of migrant workers. https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2022/04/09/many-bosses-indifferent-to-welfare-of-migrant-workers/
Bruslé, T. (2012). What Kind of Place is this? South Asia Multidisciplinary Academic Journal, (6). https://doi.org/10.4000/samaj.3446 DOI: https://doi.org/10.4000/samaj.3446
Chua, T. (2017). The Migrant Space of Geylang: Exploring Spaces of Privacy, Entrepreneurship and Leisure. Yale-NUS College Capstone Final Report.
Dutta, Mohan Jyoti. (2020). COVID-19, Authoritarian Neoliberalism, and Precarious Migrant Work in Singapore: Structural Violence and Communicative Inequality. Frontiers in Communication. https://doi.org/10.3389/fcomm.2020.00058 DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fcomm.2020.00058
Hall, S. M., King, J. & Finlay, R. (2015). Envisioning Migration: Drawing the Infrastructure of Stapleton Road, Bristol. New Diversities, 17 (2), 201.
Govindarajan, A. (2022). Migrant workers sue Dyson over alleged forced labor in Malaysia supplier factory. https://www.jurist.org/news/2022/02/migrant-workers-sue-dyson-over-alleged-forced-labor-in-malaysia-supplier-factory/
Lucas, R. (2020). Drawing as being: Moving beyond ways of knowing, modes of attention and habitus. In I. Troiani & S. Ewing (Eds.), Visual Research Methods in Architecture (76–94). Bristol: Intellect. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv36xw2gk.7
Maqusi, S. (2021). Acts of Spatial Violation: The Politics of Space-Making inside the Palestinian Refugee Camp. ARENA Journal of Architectural Research, 6(1). https://doi.org/10.5334/ajar.324 DOI: https://doi.org/10.5334/ajar.324
Merrifield, A. (2006). Henri Lefebvre - a critical introduction. New York: Taylor & Francis Group
Misselwitz, P., & Steigemann, A. (2021). Architectures of asylum. In Communicative Constructions and the Refiguration of Spaces (174–193). London: Routledge. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9780367817183-13
Rahman, M., & Albaity, M. (2014). Socio-economic Conditions of Bangladeshi Migrant Workers in Malaysia. Journal of Basic and Applied Scientific Research, 4(3), 246–252. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/260064902
Reber, L. (2021). The cramped and crowded room: The search for a sense of belonging and emotional well-being among temporary low-wage migrant workers. Emotion, Space and Society, 40, 100808. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.emospa.2021.100808
Re-designing the dormitory experience for Singapore’s migrant workers. https://www.agencydesign.co/blog/project-commune-case-study
Paramita, K. D. & Schneider, T. (2018). Passage territories: Reframing living spaces in contested contexts. Interiority 1, 2, 113-129. DOI: https://doi.org/10.7454/in.v1i2.34
Saldanha, K. (2022). The invisibility of farmworkers: Implications and remedies. Latino Studies, 20(1), 28–49. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/s41276-021-00349-w
Stanek, Ł. (2011). Henri Lefebvre on Space. Minneapolis: The University of Minnesota Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5749/minnesota/9780816666164.001.0001
The Commission of Law Revision Malaysia. Employee’s Minimum Standards of Housing and Amenities Act 1990 (Act 446). https://jtksm.mohr.gov.my/sites/default/files/2023-03/2.%20Employees%20Minimum%20Standards%20of%20Housing%2C%20Accomodations%20and%20emenities%20Act%201990.pdf
Troiani, I., & Ewing, S. (2020). Introduction: Visual research methods and ‘critical visuality’. In Visual Research Methods in Architecture. Bristol. Intellect. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv36xw2gk
Uddin, S., & Mohammed, A. A. (2020). Exploration of Migrants’ Social Life: A Case Study on Bangladeshi Temporary Contract Worker’s in Malaysia. International Journal of Human Resource Studies, 10(1). https://doi.org/10.5296/ijhrs.v10i1.16172 DOI: https://doi.org/10.5296/ijhrs.v10i1.16172
Wang, T., Li, Y., Zhang, L., Li, G. (2016). Case Study of Integrated Prefab Accommodations System for Migrant On-Site Construction Workers in China. Journal of Professional Issues in Engineering Education and Practice. 142(4), 05016005. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)EI.1943-5541.0000288
Yaneva, A. (2018). Editorial. New Voices in Architectural Ethnography – Nuove voci nell’etnografia dell’architettura. Ardeth, 2, 17. https://doi.org/10.17454/ardeth02.03 DOI: https://doi.org/10.17454/ARDETH02.03
Zeisel, J. (2006). Observing Physical Traces. In Inquiry by Design (89–136). Cambridge University Press.
Zubir, H. bin, & Rahim, A. A. (2021). Study of Quality Living Environment for Temporary Construction Workers’ Accommodation in Malaysia. International Journal of Environment, Architecture, and Societies, 1(02), 64–72. https://doi.org/10.26418/ijeas.2021.1.02.64-72 DOI: https://doi.org/10.26418/ijeas.2021.1.02.64-72
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 Unported License.
Copyright & Creative Commons Licence
eISSN: 0128-0945 © Year. The Authors. Published for Malaysia Institute of Planners. This is an open-access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license.
The authors hold the copyright without restrictions and also retain publishing rights without restrictions.