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kampung

kampung

9.5
A poor, informal neighborhood near a city in Southeast Asia
  • noun
  • /kæmˈpʊŋ/
translation icon : asentamiento informal
  • Many kampungs in the city lack basic infrastructure and essential services.
  • squatter kampung
  • temporary kampung
  • inner-city kampungs

Examples

  • The children in the kampung play together in the narrow streets outside their homes.

  • Because most kampungs are built around narrow lanes, vehicular traffic other than motorbikes is minimal.

    Academic text (1993)
  • Still, the quality of life in many kampungs has ameliorated.

    Academic text (1993)
  • Income levels vary substantially in these diverse kampungs: some people are employed in the service sector; others grow rice.

    Academic text (1993)
  • Still, most of the inner-city kampungs remain overcrowded by any definition.

    Academic text (1993)
  • As a result of kampung improvement schemes and increased prosperity, some of the better-located kampungs could be described as predominantly middle class.

    Academic text (1993)
  • Historically, kampungs constituted a separate village-support system for the largely alien city and were almost always isolated and poor.

    Academic text (1993)
  • I define a kampung as a mostly unplanned, primarily low-income residential area that has gradually been built and serviced.

    Academic text (1993)
  • The mostly low-rise, primitive structures in kampungs are jammed together with little or no open space or greenery.

    Academic text (1993)
  • Population is declining in many inner-city kampungs as a result of commercial intrusions and perhaps voluntary emigration.

    Academic text (1993)

Synonyms

kampong
vskampung
1 9.9

A traditional village in Malaysia and Indonesia where Malay people live

is usually an informal urban area rather than an ethnically focused village
campong
vskampung
  • Archaic
9.9

A small village in Malaysia or Indonesia with traditional houses

is an often poor informal settlement found within or near towns

How Urban

city
1.0
town
1.0
kampung
9.5
village
1.0
countryside
136 1.1

Surface Forms

kampung singular
kampungs plural

Etymology

Kampung is a Malay word meaning 'village' that English speakers in Southeast Asia also use for small, often informal neighbourhoods near a city. So this use of kampung keeps the original sense of a close, village-style community even inside a town.