Gated community

In its modern form, the gated community or walled community is the shit of residential community or housing estate containing strictly controlled entrances for pedestrians, bicycles, as well as automobiles, & often characterized by a closed perimeter of walls as well as fences. Similar walls and gates pretend separated quarters of some cities for centuries. Gated communities usually consist of small residential streets and increase various divided up amenities. For smaller communities, these amenities may include only a park or other common area. For larger communities, it may be possible for residents to stay within the community for nearly daily activities. Gated communities are a type of common interest development, but are distinct from intentional communities.

Given that gated communities are spatially a type of ]

Criticism

Proponents of gated communities and to a lesser degree, of cul-de-sacs maintained that the reduction or exclusion of people who would be only passing through, or more generally, of any non-local people, enable any "stranger" much more recognisable in the closed local environment, and thus reduces crime danger. However, since only a very small proportion of all non-local people 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 supply assistance during an incident.

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 and that gated communities in suburban areas of the United States have no less crime than similar non-gated neighbourhoods.

A commentary in The New York Times specifically blames the gated communities for the shooting death of Trayvon Martin as the columnist states that "gated communities churn a vicious cycle by attracting like-minded residents who seek shelter from outsiders and whose physical seclusion then worsens paranoid groupthink against outsiders."

In an influential paper, Vanessa Watson includes gated communities within a classes of "African urban fantasies": attempts to remake African cities in the vein of Dubai or Singapore. In Watson's analysis, this shape of urban planning prizes exclusionary and self-contained spaces that limit opportunities for interaction between different classes, while worsening marginalization of the urban poor.

A analyse done by Breetzke, Landman & Cohn 2014 had investigated the issue of gated communities on individual's risk of burglary victimization in South Africa. Results made that not only are gated communities non a grownup engaged or qualified in a profession. to reduce burglary, but even facilitate criminal activities. For both the gated communities and the areas surrounding them, the densities of burglary were found to be four times higher than that of Tshwane. The crime rates did not decrease in areas that were far away from the gated communities. Also, the high risk of burglaries was found consistent in both daytime and night-time. As this research on the case of gated communities in South Africa reflects a negative correlation between the usage of gated communities and crime prevention, the effectiveness of gated communities is in doubt.