Redevelopment of Huai Khwang Housing Project Responsive to Users’ Spatial Behaviors

Abstract

Huai Khwang Housing is a public residential project, developed since 1972 in a fringe area of Bangkok at that time. The city has been gradually expanding, so now Huai Khwang Housing turns to be in the center of the city. There is a subway station 400 meters away from the site; therefore, the land value and potentials of this housing project has been increased. However, the physical conditions of the buildings are rather rundown since they have been utilizing for more than 50 years. The National Housing Authority of Thailand, the owner of this residence, has a plan to redevelop this housing project. The preliminary public hearing was set to inform the community about the future changes and intend to receive the opinions from the residents, who are elderlies residing in this community since it was built. Therefore, this paper aims to investigate the spatial behavior of elderly residents in this housing. The methods used include interviews and observations. The results show that the housing units are used in multi-functions and the spatial requirements include storage areas, a smell-locked and partitioning cooking area, a ventilating and sun-drying area for laundry, and spaces for air-conditioning units as well as satellite discs and washing machines. It is suggested that the redevelopment housing scheme should meet these requirements.