Local Cultures – Global Spaces

Abstract

This research explores the relationship between migrant workers’ spatial practices, their living environment and worker accommodation regulations in Malaysia. Various regulations with minimum spatial standards have been implemented in Malaysia to improve the deplorable living conditions of migrant workers in recent years. However, many recent reports indicated that the worrying situation has only slightly or not improved. On one hand, this is due to poor compliance from employers, while there are also concerns about the comprehensiveness and appropriateness of these regulations. Referring to Lefebvre’s theory of space production, this research adopts the concept that space is a product and is produced by the interactions between the conceived space (regulations and design), the perceived space (spatial practices of migrant workers) and the lived space (migrant workers spatial experience). Therefore, to understand the problems of current accommodation regulations, it is crucial to investigate the spatial practices of migrant workers within these quarters in relation to the spatial standards. Malaysia’s Workers’ Minimum Standards of Housing and Amenities Act 2019 and workers’ accommodation guidelines by the City Council of Kuala Lumpur are used for comparison in this study. Adopting a qualitative case study approach and through on-site observations and architectural spatial analysis, this research identifies areas unaddressed by current regulations that resulted in the misalignment between regulated accommodation spaces and the actual spatial usage of migrant workers, which further contributed to the deterioration of workers’ living environments. The findings provide a reference for future studies on the design guidelines of migrant workers’ accommodations.