Challenge of Facilities Provision in Strata Building

While strata titled buildings are built to optimise the scarcity of land supply, the design should have ease the problem of creating disunity and inconvenience to the cohabitants. For example, the placing of facilities and common properties should have taken into consideration the accessibility, connectivity and social behaviour of the residents.

However, some planning design has overlooked this aspect. I realised this after visiting the low cost house in Desa Mentari last week. Under the development project of Desa Mentari, 8 blocks of residential houses with few hundred units each were built. Each block is equipped with different type of facilities. For example, Block 8 is built with a community hall, Block 7 is to cater for underprivileged people, Block 2 with prayer room and etc. The assumption is every resident is entitled to the facilities, and rightly so. Nevertheless, due to the management of strata titled building and distance as well as socio-cultural background of residents, many of the common facilities have been kept exclusively for the use of residents from that particular block. Other claimed inconvenience or improper to enjoy the facilities.

As a result, different block residents groups are asking to build facilities for their own. For example, community hall, prayer room, children play area and etc. This creates tremendous pressure to the Authority and other agencies.

If this phenomena is not checked properly and to incorporate in the planning design stage, I afraid the same will occur in time to come. Planning for the strata titled project especially the low and medium cost development projects should have considered the provision of common facilities, quantitative and qualitatively.