Orchard as communal space in urban clustered housing in Malaysia

Ismail Said
Second International Symposium on Asia Pacific Architecture, Spirit of a Place, University of Hawaii, April 7-9, 1997, Honolulu, Hawaii
Jurnal Alam Bina, Fakulti Alam Bina, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Jilid 1, No.1, Mac 1998.

Urban community in Malaysia lack common amenities for interaction. Open spaces for recreation that are accessible are poorly designed and badly maintained by the municipalities. Thus there is low participation by urban dwellers in communal activities. However, the interaction and bondage between villagers in rural communities are strong due to communal activities. One of the popular activities is the harvesting and collecting of orchard products during the fruit season. Relatives, from near and far, and neighbours gathered in the orchard to enjoy the endemic fruits. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to discuss the concept of establishing orchard as a communal open space in urban clustered housing in Malaysia. This is the space for urban dwellers to interact and develop sense of belonging towards the neighbourhood. It describes the characteristics of a typical orchard and elaborates the significance of orchard in terms of economic and social benefits, physiological functions and perceptual values. A neighbourhood model is recommended to show the application of this concept.