Gated communities in the United States Christian Reimann

Gated communities in the United States Christian Reimann June 6, 2006

Structure of the presentation • Definition of gated communities • Characteristics of gated communities • Reasons for erecting gates and fences • Distinction: lifestyle, prestige and security zone communities • Gated communities: Problematic aspects • Alternatives to gates and walls

Definition of gated communities • “Gated communities are residential areas with restricted access in which normally public spaces are privatized. ” (Blakely & Snyder, p. 2)

Characteristics of gated communities I • Physical barriers to access • Privatization of community space and sometimes “civic responsibilities like police protection and communal services such as street maintenance, recreation, and entertainment. ” (Blakely & Snyder, p. 8) • Street design: unconnected subdivisions • Single-use zoning and inaccessibility to public transit • Emphasis on private over public space

Characteristics of gated communities II • They are mostly suburban, with a growing number of gated neighborhoods in the city • Self-governing home-owner associations (HOAs)

Reasons for erecting gates and fences I • What the suburbs used to offer: close proximity to nature as well as to the amenities of the city, safeness, good education and good kids in the schools, no social deviance in any form, clean and friendly place • Nowadays: “no longer as uniform or as racially or ethnically sterile as that ideal” growing diversity crime, vandalism, disinvestment, blight powerlessness, vulnerability “If security cannot be found in location alone, perhaps it can be found in a development type – the gated community. ” (Blakely & Snyder, p. 15)

Reasons for erecting gates and fences II • “More and more, Americans are turning to protected spaces from public space. The rise of gated communities is part of this trend. ” (Blakely & Snyder, p. 28) • FEAR residents want to control access to territory

Dinstinction Gated communities can be divided into three types: 1) Lifestyle communities 2) Prestige communities 3) Security zone communities

1) Lifestyle communities • Retirement communities; golf and leisure communities; second homes • “the gates provide security and separation for the leisure activities and amenities offered within” (p. 39) • Members of the community share individual rather than community goals

2) Prestige communities I • Originally: enclaves of the rich and famous; nowadays communities for the upper middle class as well • Commonality almost entirely based on economic status • Goal: “create and protect a secure place on the social ladder” • “The gates are motivated by a desire to protect an image, protect current investments, and control housing values. ” (Blakely & Snyder, p. 41)

2) Prestige communities II • “their gates denote a barrier of status” (Blakely & Snyder, p. 75) • “Gated communities also provide privacy and protection from solicitors and strangers and relief from the fear of crime. ” (ibid. ) • “Marketing brochures and advertisements rarely mention gates specifically. Code words such as ‘private’ and ‘exclusive’ are found over again. ” (p. 82)

3) Security zone communities • Barriers erected for security reasons, i. e. for fear of crime and outsiders • It‘s the residents who build gates and barricades • Occur at all income levels and in all areas • The important point is whether the residents feel they need to cut off their streets

Gated communities: Problematic aspects I • “The phenomenon of walled cities and gated communities is a dramatic manifestation of a new fortress mentality growing in America. ” (Blakely & Snyder 1999, p. 1 -2) • Influence on crime rates is dubious; in any case the problem is not solved but simply shifted elsewhere • Often: physical community only • “Gates provide a false sense of security that encourages lax behaviour – doors left unlocked, garage doors left open, alarm systems not turned on. ” (p. 97)

Gated communitites: Problematic aspects II • Limitation of social contact that puts the social contract into question • Manifestation of segregation

Alternatives to gates and walls • Crime prevention • Community coaches • Planning streets in order to control traffic and those who drive on them (traffic calming) • Solving the problems on a higher level (neighborhoods as parts of regions, and of the nation as a whole)

Sources • Edward J. Blakely & Mary Gail Snyder (1999): Fortress America. Gated Communities in the United States. Washington, D. C. : Brookings Institution Press + Cambridge/Mass. : Lincoln Institute of Land Policy • Gated communities. From: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia ( http: //en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Gated_communities ) Last visited: June 5, 2006