Exploring the Prescriptive and Descriptive Lost Space in the Setting of Urban Fabrics of Kuala Lumpur

Due to the tension of urban uniformity and environmental setting, what emerges in most patterns of use in the city is lost space that usually ignored as insignificant. They emerge as if by accident during the design process, sometimes, the result of negligence or simply a feature of time flow in the city. To understand the phenomenon of lost space, this research seeks to identify the prescriptive and descriptive character of lost space from the local perception in Kuala Lumpur. This research also investigates the varied forces, circumstances, and the mechanisms that are responsible for their production. A qualitative analysis is made on selected parameters in the theory of lost space, activities, accessibility, connectivity, maintenance, and design. The result indicates that there were various new perceptions of descriptive lost space includes economic and social activity as these are an important strategy for maintaining the vitality and robustness of urban space. It is proposed in this paper the need of tools and effective ways of (re)designing a space to be applied in a new context and can act as a resource for urban life by hosting the intervention or alternative uses.