In its modern form, a gated community is a form of residential community or housing estate containing strictly-controlled entrances for pedestrians, bicycles, and automobiles, and often characterized by a closed perimeter of walls and fences. Gated communities usually consist of small residential streets and include various shared amenities. For smaller communities this may be only a park or other common area. For larger communities, it may be possible for residents to stay within the community for most day-to-day activities. Gated communities are a type of common interest development, but are distinct from intentional communities. In countries with a low Human Development Index and/or high Gini coefficient, gated communities attempt to provide security to the upper class as well as expatriates.
Given that gated communities are spatially a type of enclave, Setha M. Low, among other anthropologists, has argued that they have a negative effect on the overall social capital of the broader community outside the gated community.[1]
Some gated communities, usually called guard-gated communities, are staffed by private security guards and are often home to high-value properties, and/or are set up as retirement villages. Some gated communities are secure enough to resemble fortresses and are intended as such.
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Amenities available in a gated community depend on a number of factors including geographical location, demographic composition, community structure, and community fees collected. When there are sub-associations that belong to master associations, the master association may provide many of the amenities. In general, the larger the association the more amenities that can be provided. Amenities also depend on the type of housing. For example, single-family-home communities may not have a common-area swimming pool, since individual homeowners have the ability to construct their own private pools. A condominium, on the other hand, may offer a community pool, since the individual units do not have the option of a private pool installation.
Typical amenities offered can include one or more
To enter some gated communities, the person must be a registered resident with photo ID or the person must have a friend in the gated community who gives specific permission (via phone or internet) to the security guards at the gate to this effect "my friend Joe Smith will visit me in the next hour or so, his drivers licence number is XXXXXX, let him in".
In Brazil, the most widespread form of gated community is called "condomínio fechado" (closed housing estate) and is the object of desire of the upper classes. Such a place is a small town with its own infrastructure (backup power supply, sanitation, and security guards). The purpose of such a community is to protect its residents from outside violence. The same philosophy is seen on closed buildings and most shopping centers (many of them can only be accessed from inside the parking lot or the garage).
In Panama, people buy houses inside of them because of the increased security, mainly in big cities. The majority of these gated communities are built for the middle and upper middle classes. They are preferred over condos and apartments because of lower community payment, higher feelings of privacy, and lower house prices.
In Argentina, they are called "barrios privados" (literal translation "private neighborhoods") or just "countries" and are often seen as a symbol of wealth. However, gated communities enjoy dubious social prestige (many members of the middle and middle upper class regard gated community dwellers as nouveaux riches or snobs[2]). While most gated communities have only houses, some bigger ones, such as Nordelta,[3] have their own hospital, school, shopping mall, and more. In recent years, this influx of people going from the big cities to the gated communities has experienced a backlash in Argentina. Visiting Buenos Aires, the renowned geographer and urbanist Jordi Borja from Spain who teaches urban planning at the University of Barcelona criticized gated communities calling them[4] "the negation of cities". Architect and university professor Marcela Camblor, who heads the Urban Design Dept in Florida, USA[5] told the La Nacion newspaper that "the gated communities experiment has failed", calling them "unsustainable from the economic, social, and now even energetic point of view".
In post-apartheid South Africa, gated communities have mushroomed in response to high levels of violent crime. South African gated communities are broadly classified as "security villages" (large-scale privately developed areas) or "enclosed neighborhoods .[6] Some of the newest neighborhoods being developed are almost entirely composed of security villages, with a few isolated malls and other essential services (such as hospitals). A common mode of development of the security villages involves staking out a large land claim, building a high wall surrounding the entire zone, then gradually adding roads and other infrastructure. In part, property developers have adopted this response to counter squatting, which local residents fear due to associated crime, and which often results in a protracted eviction process. Crime syndicates have been known to acquire property in some of these security villages to be used as a base for their operations within them.
They are popular in southern China, namely the Pearl River Delta Region. These communities are often purchased by overseas Chinese, Hong Kong Chinese, and new-rich local Chinese. Most famous one is Clifford Estates.
In Saudi Arabia, gated communities have existed since the discovery of oil, mainly to accommodate Westerners and their families. After threat levels raised since the late 1990s against Westerners in general and Americans in particular, gates have become armed, sometimes heavily, and all vehicles have been inspected. Marksmen and SANG armored vehicles appeared in certain times, markedly after recent terrorist attacks in areas nearby, targeting Westerners.
Gated communities are very rare in Europe.
Proponents of gated communities (and to a lesser degree, of culs-de-sac) maintain that the reduction or exclusion of people that would just be passing through, or more generally, of all non-locals, makes any "stranger" much more recognisable in the closed local environment, and thus reduces crime danger. This view has been attacked as unrealistic - since only a very small proportion of all non-locals passing through the area are potential criminals, increased traffic should increase rather than decrease safety by having more people around whose presence could deter criminal behaviour or who could provide assistance during an incident.[7]
Another criticism is that gated communities offer a false sense of security. Some studies indicate that safety in gated communities may be more illusion than reality, showing that gated communities in suburban areas of the United States have no less crime than similar non-gated neighborhoods.[8]
A limited number of gated communities have long been established for foreigners in various regions of the world:
There are many gated communities in Argentina, especially in Greater Buenos Aires, in the county of Pilar, 60 km N of Buenos Aires city, as well as in other suburban areas, such as Nordelta.[3]
Even though Tortugas Country Club was the first gated community developed in Argentina-dating from the 1930s/1940's-most of them date form the 1990s, when liberal reforms were consolidated.
Since Buenos Aires has been traditionally regarded as a socially integrated city, gated communities have been the object of research by sociologists. Gated communities are an important way through which people - particularly middle and upper classes - cope with the high levels of violent criminal activity in Greater Buenos Aires.[9]
Although gated communities have been relatively rare in Australia, since the 1980s a few have been built. The most well-known are those at Hope Island, in particular Sanctuary Cove, on the Gold Coast of Queensland. Other similar projects are being built in the area. In Victoria, the first such development is Sanctuary Lakes, in the local government area of Wyndham, about 16 km south west of Melbourne. In New South Wales there is Macquarie Links gated community.[10] Many Australian gated communities are built within private golf courses.
Brazil also has many gated communities, particularly in the metropolitan regions Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo. For example, one of São Paulo's suburbs, Tamboré, has at least 6 such compounds known as Tamboré 1, 2, 3, and so on. Each consists of generously spaced detached houses with very little to separate front gardens.
One of the first big-scale gated community projects in São Paulo city region was Barueri's Alphaville, planned and constructed during the 1970s military dictatorship when the big cities of Brazil faced steep increases of car ownership[11] by the middle and higher-classes, rural exodus, poverty,[12] crime, urban sprawl and downtown decay.
Neighborhoods with "physical" or explicit gating with security checkpoints and patrols are extremely rare, being absent in some of Canada's richest neighborhoods such as Bridle Path, Toronto. This is generally attributed to the lower crime rate in Canadian cities and stricter gun control laws, compared to their U.S. neighbors. Furthermore, municipal planning laws in many Canadian provinces ban locked gates on "public" roads as a public health issue since they deny emergency vehicles quick access.
More common in most Canadian neighborhoods, especially the largest cities, is an implicit or symbolic gating which effectively partitions the private infrastructure and amenities of these communities from their surrounding neighborhoods. For instance, newer suburban subdivisions employ decorative gates to give the impression of exclusivity and seclusion.[13] In contrast to Many condominiums, both individual towers and complexes consisting of numerous buildings, however do maintain security checkpoints.
China, and Beijing in particular, has experienced a surge in gated communities. Some of these compounds, like most other gated communities around the world, target the rich. Also many foreigners live in gated communities in Beijing. Often foreign companies choose the locations where their foreign employees will live, and in most cases they pay the rent and associated costs (e.g. management fees and garden work etc.).
Other gated communities in China such as those in the Daxing District of Beijing enclose the homes of rural migrants. These are intended to, and succeed, in reducing crime and increasing public order and safety. The system is controversial as it segregates migrants and the poor but is scheduled for implementation in Changping District also.[14]
Guayaquil and Quito, Ecuador have many gated communities. In the coastal city of Guayaquil they are mostly located in Samborondón and in Quito in the Valleys surrounding the city. They are home mostly for the wealthiest people, but there's a trend, specially in Guayaquil, of houses in gated communities with moderate prices as well.
In Indonesia, a gated community is preferred by most people. Some gated communities are luxurious (with lots of up to 740 square metres (8000 sq ft)), and some are very affordable (with lots ranging from 65 to 120 square metres). Some examples are houses in Pondok Indah and Kemang.
Most of the gated communities in Mexico are illegal. Practically all the municipal rules prohibiting to close roads. Most of the new neighborhoods offer a close perimeter and check points similar to an "authentic" gated community. The only legal way to create a private community by legal means is trough a condominium, but this condition is a minority. This situation is tolerated and sometimes even promoted by some city councils due to the lack of capacity to provide a reliable and trusted security forces.[15]
A 2008 study found that the average income in a urban area of Mexico was $26,654, a rate higher than an advanced nationa like Taiwan while the average income in rural areas (sometimes just miles away) was only $8,403. This close a proximity of wealth and poverty has created an illusion of security risk for Mexico's middle class. Illegal Gated communities can be found in virtually every moderately sized city in Mexico with the largest found in major cities, such as Monterrey, Mexico City or Guadalajara.
Only a few gated communities in Mexico are legal and have fully independent and self contained infrastructure, such as schools, water and power facilities, security and fire forces, and medical facilities. Some of the larger gated communities even retain their own school districts and police departments.
In New Zealand, gated communities have been developed in suburban areas of the main cities since the 1980s and 1990s.[16][17]
The Philippines has a sizable number of gated communities or "subdivisions" as they are locally called.
Gated communities (other than closed cities) usually are made from the secret objects where level of Classification was lowered but communities kept or residents are still in force to preserve its status. The new are not popular because in practice first "point building" were guarded and in spite crime level was higher and prefer single-door checkpoints instead.
In Saudi Arabia, expatriate workers are required to live in Saudi Aramco-controlled gated communities. The largest such community is Dhahran. Gated communities are also popular with well-to-do Saudis. The largest communities include, in addition to Dhahran, Ras Tanura, Abqaiq, and Udhailiyah.
South Africa has an increasing number of gated communities.
Nichada Thani is a gated community based around International School Bangkok. The community is located in the north Bangkok suburb of Pak Kret.
In the United Arab Emirates, gated communities have exploded in popularity, particularly in Dubai, where the 2002 decision to allow foreigners to own freehold properties has resulted in the construction of numerous such communities built along various themes. Examples include The Lakes, Springs, Meadows, and Arabian Ranches.
In the United Kingdom, gated communities can usually be found in London, especially in the Docklands (such as New Caledonian Wharf, Kings and Queen Wharf and Pan Peninsula), and East London (for example Bow Quarter in Bow, London), although there are an increasing number across the whole of the country. There are an estimated 1,000 gated communities in England.[18]
Most gated communities in the U.S. are unincorporated—some, like Indiana's Briar Ridge, may even span more than one incorporated municipality—but uniquely, there are several incorporated gated cities in Southern California, namely Bradbury, Canyon Lake, Hidden Hills, Laguna Woods and Rolling Hills. To meet legal requirements, the city halls and municipal facilities are public, and private corporations own parks and other facilities within the gates. By 1997, an estimated 20,000 gated communities had been built across the country.[19] Approximately 40% of new homes in California are behind walls.[20] In 1997, estimates of the number of people in gated communities ranged from 4 million in 30,000 communities[21] up to around 8 million, with a ½ million in California alone.[22] One reason why it is difficult to determine how many gated communities there are in the United States is that most are privately developed.[23]
The village of Rosemont, Illinois, just outside Chicago, maintains a security checkpoint at the entrance of its main residential section. Harbor Springs, Michigan is the largest gated community in the Midwestern United states.
In Downtown Miami, Florida, the neighborhood of Brickell Key is a gated island community of high-rise residential towers. Although anyone can walk onto the island or come via the public bus, only authorized automobiles may enter. Brickell Key has some of the most expensive apartments in Miami.
There are other incorporated gated communities outside California including Sea Ranch Lakes, Florida and North Oaks, Minnesota.
Hot Springs Village, Arkansas is the largest gated community in the United States with over 26,000 heavily-wooded acres. HSV is governed by the HSV Property Owners' Association (POA), a private, tax-exempt home owners association.
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