The Meaning of Home and Its Implications on Alternative Tenures: A Malaysian Perspective. Issue 3 (2nd July 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Hamzah, H.; Adnan, N.
• Is Part Of: Housing, theory and society. Volume 33:Issue 3(2016)
• Page Start: 305
• Page End: 323
• Publication Date: 2016-07-02
• Subjects: Home -- Meaning -- Home-ownership -- Alternative tenures -- Qualitative methodology; Housing -- Periodicals; City planning -- Periodicals; Housing -- Economic aspects -- Periodicals; Housing policy -- Periodicals; 363.51
• DOI: 10.1080/14036096.2016.1143025
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1403-6096

Abstract

Abstract: The discourse on the meaning of home is largely centred on the Western experiences and perspectives, producing insights into the economic and psycho-social aspects of home, with less attention on the Eastern context. This paper explores the emotive meaning of home from the perspective of Malaysia, a nation of homeowners. Gurney's view of home as an emotional "warehouse" framed this inquiry, supporting the notion of feelings associated with the dwelling being created, deposited and drawn by its occupants. This paper represents part of a larger housing study into an alternative housing tenure for Malaysia that argues that the sense of home can be independent of housing tenure. This paper reports the meaning of home as derived from 10 diarists who have been actively involved in creating the "home" and were therefore capable to describe the process of emotional appropriation of their lived space. Findings suggested that the process of assigning meaning to home was dependent on diarists' feelings, perceptions, attachments and relations regarding their lived space. Diarists mainly associated their emotive construction of home with family-centred activities and space, which took place in both the micro-sense (within the dwelling) and the macro-sense (the neighbourhood).