ASSESSING SUSTAINABILITY LEVEL FROM SOCIAL ASPECTS FOR AFFORDABLE HOUSING IN MALAYSIA USING SPATIAL INDICATORS

Abstract

Affordable housing was developed in order to give equal opportunity for middle and low-incomers in owning a house, especially in Malaysia. To make sure that these people can have a quality house, the National Housing Policy (DRN) with Pelan Tindakan DRN has been introduced by the Malaysian Government to not only provide adequate housing, but also a comfortable, fun and affordable for the wellbeing of the people in Malaysia (KPKT, 2011). Therefore, sustainability for housing is important to achieve balance between economic development, social interactions and environmental impact by reducing the problems related to population growth, urbanisation, slums, poverty, climate change, lack of access to sustainable energy, and economic uncertainty. One of the goals in DRN and Pelan Tindakan Dasar Perumahan Negara (PTDRN) is to provide an affordable housing and ensure the people from low-income can own a house. However, there is an issue towards assessing the sustainability level of affordable housing, especially in social aspects. This study will discuss on sustainability of affordable housing in Malaysia focused on social aspects. Assessment of spatial indicators was conducted to assess the indicator's implementation of social aspect of the sustainability model. The indicators used in this study include public community facilities, health, safety, religion, and public transportation. These indicators will determine the level of sustainability of the affordable housing. From the results, most of the affordable housing in Malaysia is in intermediate level of sustainability in term of social aspects. These results can help/guide the Government in planning and development in the future, especially with collaboration from private agencies and non-government organization (NGO).