A CASE STUDY ON THE SPATIAL PRACTICES OF CONSTRUCTION SITE WORKERS' QUARTERS IN KLANG VALLEY, MALAYSIA

Authors

  • Veronica Ng School of Architecture, Building and Design & Liveable Urban Communities Impact Lab, TAYLOR’S UNIVERSITY, MALAYSIA
  • Lok Mei Liang School of Architecture, Building and Design & Liveable Urban Communities Impact Lab, TAYLOR’S UNIVERSITY, MALAYSIA
  • TamilSalvi Mari School of Architecture, Building and Design & Liveable Urban Communities Impact Lab, TAYLOR’S UNIVERSITY, MALAYSIA
  • Sucharita Srirangam School of Architecture, Building and Design & Liveable Urban Communities Impact Lab, TAYLOR’S UNIVERSITY, MALAYSIA
  • Anindita Dasgupta School of Liberal Arts and Sciences, TAYLOR’S UNIVERSITY, MALAYSIA

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.21837/pm.v22i32.1518

Keywords:

Construction centralised labour quarters, migrant workers, socio-spatial qualities, spatial practices

Abstract

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

Download data is not yet available.

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

2024-07-29

How to Cite

Ng, V., Liang, L. M., Mari, T., Srirangam, S., & Dasgupta, A. (2024). A CASE STUDY ON THE SPATIAL PRACTICES OF CONSTRUCTION SITE WORKERS’ QUARTERS IN KLANG VALLEY, MALAYSIA. PLANNING MALAYSIA, 22(32). https://doi.org/10.21837/pm.v22i32.1518

Most read articles by the same author(s)