Professional Documents
Culture Documents
(v-GOGREEN 2020)
Abstract
Malaysia’s average house size is shrinking and living in the city also have many negative
aspects ranging from overcrowding & overprice. Therefore, the demand of having natural and
serene environments to the living space increased. The objectives of the study are to
investigate the benefits of exploiting nature and serene in promoting supportive environment
for achieving user well-being. Qualitative and quantitative methodology were applied using
three case studies (CS1: Prototype Model of Microhouse at Medan Pasar, Kuala Lumpur, CS2
at Sub urban area: The Cabin Boutique Resort at Pantai Remis, Kuala Selangor and SC3 at
Outskirts area: Meraki Tiny House at Behrang). The tool, Perceived Sensory Dimensions
“(PSDs)” was used to observe the environment and it’s tiny living spaces by taking significant
photos of two sensory dimension models (PSDs Nature and Serene). Close ended
questionnaires shall be distributed to the potential users to rate each perception for each case
studies. The results have shown that natural and serene environment for CS3 is the most
preferred because the aspirational quality of it’s PSDs and followed by CS2. While CS1 only
shown the appropriate quality of it’s PSDs.
1.0 INTRODUCTION
Kuala Lumpur’s dwellers spend 48% of monthly income on renting the accommodation
(Kuala Lumpur Structure Plan 2020). With higher living cost to stay in the city and lower
salary for young “graduate in Malaysia between RM1,949 – RM2,836” (Jobstreet Malaysia,
2019), definitely the dwellers are struggled to survive without feeling stress. The solution is
to built the tiny living space and it becomes popular nowdays. It is because the “rental cost is
10 times less than that of renting a flat in Kuala Lumpur” (PropertyGuru, 2019), less
contruction cost, less energy consumption and less maintenance.
Living in a tiny living space is a growing trend over the world nowdays, and peoples are
making their choice to live in a dwelling with modest proportions. The size of “tiny house
approximately between 160 sq.ft to 480 sq.ft., (Small Housing BC, 2015) and “in terms of
size and instead advocates for a new approach to housing, one that values quality, not
quantity”, (Sarah Susanka & Kira Obolensky, 2001). It is like a monk’s cell, highlighting the
simplicity, frugality and environmental friendly living.
However, the ambiance and environment, surroundings the tiny living space needs to be
considered with some green environment or garden, to ensure the quality of the space. Garden
with plants has important roles as restorative environments “that provide opportunities to
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reduce direct attention fatigue” (Kaplan, 1995). Besides contemplation upon nature and
search for freedom of the mind, garden functioned as social place, reduce urban heat island
(UHT) and noise barrier. Studies indicate that contact to Green Outdoor Environments (GOE)
can increase attention (Tennessen & Cimprich, 1995) and window view to nature was
positively related to a low level of acute stress (Pati et al, 2008).
3.0 OBJECTIVES
The objectives of this research as follows: -
i) Investigate the benefits of natural and serene environments and how it functions
to promote supportive environments for achieving user well-being.
ii) Investigate quality of PSDs Nature and Serene in tiny living space and it’s Green
Outdoor Environment (GOE) at different settings
4.0 METHOLOGY
4.1 Case Studies
Three case studies for tiny living spaces at different sites were selected and presented in
Table 1.
Table 1. Description of the three cases
Tiny Living Settings Built Up Area Type of GOE General View
Spaces
Center of Urban Built up area: Modern urban
CS1: Prototype Area 50m2/538 sq.ft. (2 gardens with
Model of storey) facilities of shared
Microhouse recreational space
and other areas
designated as
communal kitchens.
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(Source:Murni, 2020)
(Source:Murni, 2020)
Positive factors= 95%
Figure 3. The Cabin Boutique Resort
Negative factors= 5%
(Source:Murni, 2020)
Quality of PSDs Serene for CS3 is 95% positive factors, followed by CS2 is 90% positive
factors and CS1 is only 67% positive factors.
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(Source:Atiqah
Nadiah, 2018)
Figure 7. Meraki Tiny Positive factors= 95%
House Negative factors= 5%
(Source:Murni, 2020)
The comparison to both PSDs at three case studies (Table 4). CS3 perceived aspirational
quality with total 96% positive factors, followed by CS2 with total 93% positive factors
and CS1 perceived appropriate quality with total 67% positive factors.
Table 4. Comparision of satisfaction levels to the PSDs
PSDs CS1 CS2 CS3
Total for both PSDs 67% +ve 93% +ve 96% +ve
n= 21 respondents
(Source:Murni, 2020)
CS2 and CS3 are the most satisfied, both are 18 respondents positive factors and followed
by CS1 is 16 respondents positive factors.
Table 5. Level of satisfaction of GOE at three different settings
CS3 and CS2 were perceived as providing significant for both sensory dimesions more
than CS1. CS3 was identified as a place with relatively untouched nature (existing forest
landscapes) experiences. CS2 was identified as a place with relatively blended natural
environment (man made gardens and existing beach landscape) experiences. CS1 was
identified as a place with relatively natural man made gardens experiences.
7.0 CONCLUSION
The sites were signicantly associated with perception of the two analysed sensory
dimensions. Better qualities and features of PSDs are related to the GOE’s settings.
As result, natural and serene environment act as restorative environment for reducing
stress and mental health. Therefore, living in tiny space doesn’t mean there would be
a feeling of cramp if the design of openings are fit for visual and physical access to
the restorative exterior.
Reference:
Journal
Lazrak, F., Rietveld, P. and Rouwendal, J. (2014) The Market Value of Cultural Heritage in Urban
Areas: An Application of Spatial Hedonic Pricing. Journal of Geographical System, 16(1):89-114.
Books
Brooks, C. and Tsolacos, S. (2010) Real Estate Modelling and Forecasting. Cambridge University
Press. 357 pp.
Thesis
Yung, H. K. (2007) Architecture Heritage Conservation in Hong Kong: An Empirical Analysis. Ph.D.
Thesis, University of Hong Kong. 341 pp.
Chapter in book
Brown, M. F. (2003) Heritage as Property. In Chin T.Y. and Havmoller, P. (eds) Value Transformation
in the Global Economy. Cambridge Mass: Harvard University Press, 81-147.
Proceedings
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Mat Zin, N., Ismail, S. and Md Azmi, F. A. (2018) Ascerting the Economic Sustainability of Heritage
Property Market Based on Sale Transaction Analysis. 6th AMER International Conference on
Quality of Life. Perhentian Island Resort, Malaysia. L, 247-254.