Gated community

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Image:Saskatoon gated community.JPG Image:Security spikes 1.jpg In its modern form, a gated community is a form of residential community sometimes characterized by a closed perimeter of walls and fences, but always containing controlled entrances for pedestrians, bicycles, and automobiles. Gated communities usually consist of small residential streets and include various 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 Community (CIC) or Common Interest Development (CID), but are distinct from intentional communities.

Most gated communities, usually called guard-gated communities, are staffed by private security guards, often with CCTV and other electronic aids. These communities are often home to high-value properties. Some gated communities are set up as retirement villages.

1 Amenities
2 A worldwide phenomenon
3 Analysis
4 Common Economic Model Types of Gated Communities
5 Examples
6 Gated communities in fiction
7 See also
8 External links

[edit] Amenities

The amenities available depend on many factors including location, demographic composition and community structure. If 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 depend on the type of housing. For example, single family communities may not have a common area pool since the individual owners may want their own pools whereas a condominium may offer a pool since the individual units cannot have their own pool.

Typical amenities offered can include:

Pool(s)
A Community centre or club house
Golf course(s)
Marina
On-site Dining
Playground areas
Exercise areas that include exercise machines
Spa(s)
Sauna(s)

[edit] A worldwide phenomenon

In more recent times, a much larger number of gated communities has rapidly developed in various regions throughout the world, especially in China, Latin America, South Africa, and the United States. Especially in China, the trend towards gated communities is accelerating, in response to changing laws and economics.

In 2000, eight million U.S. residents lived in gated communities. In many parts of the world, buyers are expressing a preference for gated communities. While many see living in a gated community as offering increased security, they are not impenetrable. Walls are frequently low enough for someone to climb over them. Gates can be bypassed by tailgating cars and, for those willing, access through the sewer system. Pedestrians can enter by means of pedestrian gates, which are generally unlocked.

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). Some even have schools for the children so that they will only need to leave the community after the first five years of elementary school. 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 centres (many of them can only be accessed from inside the parking lot or the garage).

In Argentina, they are called barrio privado (private district) and they can be described as a symbol of wealth. While most gated communities have only houses, some bigger ones have their own hospital, school, shopping mall and more. Also, others have lakes, used by people with boats who wants to go for a ride. Some gated communities, instead of have private security guards, are protected by police or coastguards, allowed to carry firearms, providing more security.

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 neighbourhoods". Some of the newest neighbourhoods being developed are virtually entirely comprised 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, developing 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. Ironically, 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.

In China, all new residential developments are required to be gated. They are popular in southern China, namely the Pearl River Delta Region. These communities are often purchased by overseas Chinese, Hong Kong Chinese and nouveau-riche local Chinese.

In Saudi Arabia, gated communities have existed since the discovery of oil, mainly to accommodate Westerners and their families. After threat levels raised since late 1990's against Westerners in general, and Americans in particular, gates have become armed, sometimes heavily, and all vehicles being inspected. Marksmen and SANG armored vehicles appeared in certain times, markedly after recent terrorist attacks in areas nearby, targeting Westerners.

In Canada many towns forbid the features which are typical of gated communities in other countries (often invoking the need to offer absolutely no hindrances to the easy and speedy movement of emergency vehicles) and the term "gated community" is normally used by developers to refer to developments which have decorative gates only, and no guards.

[edit] Analysis

Real estate developers design and build gated communities because buyers want them; the existence of walls and gates around a community enhances the value of the homes located there. Many homeowners prefer to live in gated communities, just as many apartment dwellers prefer secured buildings, not only as a deterrent to crime, but also to enjoy privacy and peace of mind.

Physical walls, in some cases fortified and surveilled, give the inhabitants a sense of security. Some sociologists have criticized the creation of these type of walls as fortressing and have compared them to historical fortifications. Opponents of gated communities argue that physical segregation is not always necessary to create defensible space, that is, to establish control over a particular space. They claim symbolic barriers can be sufficient. Another criticism is that gated communities reduce crime for their residents by increasing it in the surrounding areas: crime is not eliminated, it is simply shifted elsewhere. In addition, bicycle and pedestrian connectivity are often greatly impaired by gated communities.

Another attribute of gated communities is that, in many cases, their population is homogeneous, that is, grouped along boundaries of social class, race/ethnicity, or culture. "White flight" is often a factor in this respect, though less so in recent years^{[citation needed]}.

[edit] Common Economic Model Types of Gated Communities

Lifestyle — country clubs, retirement developments.
Prestige — gates used to enhance status.
Security Zone Communities — gates for crime and traffic.

[edit] Examples

Image:Dhahran gate.jpg

A limited number of gated communities have long been established for foreigners in various regions of the world:

The worker compounds in the Middle East, built largely for the oil industry.
The closed cities of Russia are also an example of purpose-designed gated communities.

Some of the newest gated communities in China include:

Riverside Garden
Beijing Riviera
Oriental Grand Garden (more info) (Pudong District, Shanghai) The facilities at this gated community include a swimming pool, spa, gym, tennis court, a hair salon, and a 24-hour convenience store.
Vanke Garden City (more info) (Wuchang District, Wuhan) is a new gated community on the southern side of the Wuchang District of Wuhan City in Hubei Province, which currently (May 2005) is awaiting its first new occupants. Some residential buildings are still under construction, but most have already been built, with apartments being decorated prior to the new owners moving in. Facilities already up and running include the "Cross Country Jeep Bar" bar/restaurant. Facilities normally expected of such a community are expected to open once the new residents arrive. A similar Vanke development already exists in the northern Hankou area of the city, near the TianHe Airport expressway and the new racecourse.
Austin Villa (Panyu) The community consists of row houses, multi storey flats (apartments) and detached homes.

Some of the gated communities in Mexico include:

Bajamar (more info), Baja A gated complex of homes and condominiums, with a view of the Pacific Ocean, centered around a 27-hole golf course.
Chula Vista Norte (more info), (San Antonio, Jalisco) This secure development overlooks Lake Chapala, and offers various sizes of lots on which to build homes.

Examples of gated communities in the United States include Seagate in Brooklyn, New York; Broadmoor in Seattle, Washington; Rossmoor in Walnut Creek, California; and Coto de Caza in Orange County, California. 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.

The perpetrators of the famous $17 Million Loomis Fargo heist [1] moved from a mobile home into the gated Cramer Mountain community in a suburb of Charlotte, North Carolina, NC following the theft in the hope of keeping the authorities at bay. Consequently, the gang became known as The Cramer Mountain Hillbillies.

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.

Lima in Peru has several gated communities, especially in the wealthy districts of La Molina and Santiago de Surco. They are home to many prominent Peruvians.

Brazil also has many gated communities, particularly in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo. For example, one of São Paulo's suburbs, Tabori, has at least 6 such compounds known as Tambouri 1, 2, 3, and so on. Each consists of generously spaced detached houses with very little to separate front gardens. Thus many of the city's suburbs resemble wealthy suburbs in North America, Europe and other wealthy countries.

Because of the high crime rate, Metro Manila in the Philippines also has a large number of gated and heavily defended communities.

There is an increasing number of gated communities in Poland.

In Saudi Arabia, expatriate workers are required to live in Saudi Aramco controlled gated communities such as Dhahran, being the largest. Gated communities are also popular with well-to-do Saudis. The largest communities include, in addition to Dhahran, Ras Tanura, Abqaiq, and Udhailiyah.

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.

[edit] Gated communities in fiction

J.G. Ballard has examined the phenomenon in his novel Super-Cannes and in his novella Running Wild. T. C. Boyle's novel The Tortilla Curtain is also set in and near a gated community in California. Neal Stephenson's novel Snow Crash depicts a future where gated communities are mass-produced by franchising systems and operate as sovereign city-states. The novel Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler takes place in a world where much of civilization lives within gated communities. The book and film adaptations of The Stepford Wives take place inside an idyllic city-state that secretly enslaves its female members to conform to the standards of the men.