Housing Conditions and Quality of Life of the Urban Poor in Malaysia

This study examines the relationship between housing conditions and the quality of life of the urban poor in Malaysia. Housing conditions includes the physical conditions of dwellings, type of dwellings, house tenure, surrounding environment and availability of amenities. Quality of life is measured by 50 items on self-reported health, safety, and social support. The findings showed a small, but significant positive relationships between housing conditions, health, safety, and social support which provide empirical evidence of the relationship between housing conditions and quality of life. This enlightens the issue of considering housing condition as a social economic indicator of urban poverty. (C) 2012 Published by Elsevier Ltd. Selection and peer-review under responsibility of the Centre for Environment-Behaviour Studies (cE-Bs), Faculty of Architecture, Planning & Surveying, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia