Home Making in Low-Cost Housing Area

Studies assessing the conditions of low cost housings have mostly focused on satisfaction levels and subjective perception of quality particularly with regard to the dwelling units or the larger neighbourhood characteristics. However, residents usually react upon their immediate environment to achieve satisfaction and make the surrounding area as their home. This paper relates appropriation, attachment and identity as home making mechanisms through which residents strive to achieve those satisfactions. Literatures are reviewed to identify the specific behavioural components of home making. A range of informative cues is found in forms of human activities and physical traces observable in low-cost housing. (C) 2012 Published by Elsevier Ltd. Selection and peer-review under responsibility of Centre for Environment-Behaviour Studies (cE-Bs), Faculty of Architecture, Planning & Surveying, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia