The gated communities as expression of the new urban and socio-cultural context: A state of the question

Abstract:

This paper sets out a stage of the investigation about gated communities. Firstly after doing a theoretical summary to the origin and definition of the concept, its develops a general interpretation about the rise of gated communities in contemporary society as a result of four questions: the social and cultural context of the Postmodernity, the fragmentation and specialization of urban space, the increased fears and insecurities in citizens and the relationship between gated communities and property investments. After it, the importance and extent of the gated communities' phenomenon throughout the world is showed. Finally, the article concludes by a briefly explaining of how this phenomenon has been reflected in the Literature and the Cinema, through several examples, allowing us verify the relationship between Urban Geography research and these arts.

Año de publicación:

2011

Keywords:

• Fear
• urban fragmentation
• Postmodernity
• gated communities

Fuente:

scopus