Professional Documents
Culture Documents
NOVEMBER, 2006
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CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
1.1 Introduction
Dwellings can be arranged on individual plots of land as detached units, attached
or linked to each other. Whether detached or linked or even attached, they line up along
streets to form row housing. Honeycomb housing is a newly introduced housing concept
in Malaysia. However, the implementation of any new concept is always very much
dependent on the choice and preference of house buyers and housing developers. Thus,
in this study, the writer will gauge the views and consequently, the acceptance amongst
housing developers towards the concept of Honeycomb housing concept.
Table 1.1: Goal and objective of study, scope of study, research question, study area
and importance of study.
Goal To elicit views of housing developers and finally ascertain the feasibility of the
‘Honeycomb’ housing concept amongst housing developers
Objectives i)To introduce Honeycomb housing to private housing developers.
ii)To compare the difference of landuse efficiency, design and social
between Honeycomb housing and terrace housing.
iii)To elicit views and acceptance of Honeycomb housing amongst private
developers.
Scope of • Opinions and comments from housing developers on Honeycomb
Study housing
• The acceptance of the concept amongst housing developers in Johor
Bahru, thus the feasibility of the concept
Research 1. Do the private housig developers know about Honeycomb housing?
Questions 2. Do the private housing developers think that Honeycomb housing is
better than terrace housing?
• If they do, what are the aspects those are better?
• If not, then what are the aspects those are worse?
3. If there is an opportunity, would the private developers choose to develop
Honeycomb housing?
• If yes, why?
• If no, what are the reasons?
• If yes, what type of development would the developers choose to carry
out? (fully Honeycomb or mixed, high cost, medium cost or low cost)
4. Is there any relationship between the feasibility of the concept and the
opinion whether this new concept is better than terrace housing?
5. Is there any relationship between the feasibility of Honeycomb housing
and type of preferred development (fully Honeycomb, fully terrace or
mixed)?
6. Is the acceptance of the concept related to the opinion whether this new
concept is better than terrace housing?
7. How strong is the relationship between the feasibility and the acceptance
of Honeycomb housing?
8. How strong is the relationship between the acceptance of Honeycomb
housing and the preferred type of layout?
Study Area • This study will focus on private housing developers in Johor Bahru.
ii) This study will focus on the initial perception of housing developers
towards Honeycomb housing; the views of other parties such as the
house buyers or technical departments are not taken into account.
iii) The targeted respondents are developers in Johor Bahru, therefore the
findings may not be generalised to other areas.
2.1 Introduction
The chapter will explain the definition of Honeycomb, the concept of
Honeycomb housing, as well as its advantages and purpose of implementation.
Comparison between Honeycomb housing and terrace housing on the aspects of landuse
efficiency, design and social integration will also be highlighted.
Honeycomb houses are unique in design where all the houses have wide
frontage and small green space at one side of the compound. The houses are joined side-
to-side in quaduplex and sextuplex partition, back-to-back in duplex partition. As a
result, all of the dwelling units are corner lot as bungalow or semi-detached houses.
Other than that, all houses will be facing the communal space in the middle of a
courtyard neighbourhood. This will put on a better surveillance of the activities done at
the small park. Thus, it will be a safer place for kids, elderly and even disabled people.
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2.3.2.2 Safety
Honeycomb housing may provide for better environment in crime prevention
and road safety.
i) Crime prevention
• Achieves zone with ideal hierarchy suggested by Oscar Newman (1972):
public zone, semi public zone, semi private zone and private zone
• Honeycomb housing identifies clear territory and thus fosters sense of
belongings among residents in one courtyard neighbourhood; the sense of
togetherness will encourage vigilance and self policing responsibilities of the
residents to look for one and other as well as their living area
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2.4.2 Design
The design aspects which are compared include residential building shape and
internal space.
i) House shape
• Honeycomb houses are trapezium or triangular in shape while terrace houses
are shaped rectangular. Honeycomb houses are joint side-to-side and back-
to-back like semi-detached houses. This may create sense of exclusiveness
amongst the home owner.
2.5 Conclusion
Honeycomb housing was introduced as it is envisaged that a better and
conducive living environment at the same density as conventional terrace housing can
be made possible. It is further envisaged that better community bonding could be
fostered and crime prevention heightened. The comparison shows that Honeycomb
housing could achieve slightly higher density than terrace housing. However, there are
some shortcomings in Honeycomb housing. The odd shape of the house design might
make buyers have second thought about investing in such housing. This may have an
impact on the acceptance of Honeycomb housing amongst developers.
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The findings of analysis are summarized into for main parts. They are the profile
of private housing developers, the preferred housing layout among developers, views
from the developers, and lastly, the acceptance of Honeycomb housing amongst
developers.
A majority of the developers have been in the business for more than 10
years and hold paid-up capital of more than RM2 million. Most of them are
involved in the medium to large scale projects (more than 50 acres). However
most of the developers are engaged in not more than 5 projects.
The findings show that layout with linear design such as gridiron,
rectilinear and cul-de-sac are much preferred by housing developers. See table
3.1.
The findings are easily proved by current scenario where most of the
residential areas are of linear design. This is because linear design is said to be
the most effective design in achieving optimum land usage. Other than that, it is
also seen as more flexible as its linear form will create a simpler circulation, at
the same time easing construction works. Layout with loop and cluster design is
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less preferred especially in medium cost housing as both design are seen as less
effective in achieving optimum land usage.
Gamma Test shows that there is weak association between the feasibility
and the acceptance of the concept. There are developers who feel that
Honeycomb housing is acceptable but do not necessarily believe the concept is
good to be implemented. On the other hand, the preferred layout types show
both positive and negative association with the acceptance of Honeycomb
housing. The strongest association is between preferences on cluster design with
the acceptance of Honeycomb housing. In other words, those developers who
prefer cluster design are more likely to accept Honeycomb housing.
This chapter summarizes the overall research according to the objectives set
forth earlier. Recommendations in light of improvements to Honeycomb housing
concept was identified in the chapter.
ii) To compare the difference of landuse efficiency, design and social between
Honeycomb housing and terrace housing
From the survey done, it can be concluded that most of the developers
have positive views towards Honeycomb housing. Most of them find this
concept acceptable. However, there are several qualms such as the odd shape of
the building, possible longer period in getting planning approval and so on.
Therefore, most of them would rather choose to develop mixed housing
(Honeycomb with terrace) than fully Honeycomb housing.
4.2 Recommendations
From the study, several recommendations are suggested for improvement of the
concept.
Cul-de-sac
level one
Cul-de-sac
level two
Neighbourhood with
one level cul-de-sac
Safety has been put at the first priority in choosing houses to live in
today. A lot of developers suggested so that Honeycomb housing been
converted into gated community. In their opinion, gated community is better
in promising a safer environment, at the same time easier to attract buyers.
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v) Waste Collecting
Other than this study, there are still several related topics about Honeycomb
housing that can be researched.
4.4 Conclusion
In the 21st century, quality is the measurer of all. Home buyers nowadays are
given lots more choices than before, due to the upgraded living quality and lifestyle.
Developers are competing with each other in providing better living environment in
order to attract home buyers. Therefore, modern developers are willing try out new
concepts in order to provide variety for home buyers. This can be proved by findings
where most of the developers welcome the concept of Honeycomb housing. In
conclusion, the concept of Honeycomb housing is acceptable by majority of the
developers in Johor Bahru.
Appendix A
Flow Chart of Research Methodology
Stage 1 (Chapter 1)
Literature Review
• The concept of Honeycomb housing, its purpose and advantages, comparison of
Honeycomb housing with terrace housing
Stage 2 (Chapter 2)
Data Collection
Stage 4 (Chapter 4)
Appendix B
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Courtyard neighbourhood
Cul-de-sac community
Bigger neighbourhood