Spatial Strategies for Domestic Service Activities in Urban Kampung Houses

Domestic service activities as basic dwelling necessities are inevitably required and performed as essential part of living spaces in any house types. The spatial arrangement of domestic service activities might be problematic in dwellings with limited spatial size, as found in housings for low income occupants. This paper examines various spatial strategies for domestic service activities in urban kampung houses, through the development of a dwelling typology based on the spatial organization of domestic service space. It attempts to analyze urban kampung houses beyond the common differentiation of dwelling space in which domestic service spaces tend to be associated with the back of the house region. It also acknowledges the context of urban kampung housing with certain neighborhood social structure and collective uses of spaces. The findings suggest various spatial strategies in allocating domestic service activities within the available space, including the use of the front region of the house, the outdoor extension of house space, as well as collective uses of space for certain domestic service activities. Redefining the typology of houses based on the spatial arrangement of domestic service activities could provide an insight into specific characteristics of urban kampung living with specific spatiality for domestic service.

Domestic service, House, Space, Strategies, Urban kampung