Gated community

A gated community is a form of closed community. Their number is increasing. 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. People who live outside the walls, however, may view the inhabitants as having walled themselves in – or having walled the perceived problems out.

Physical walls, often fortified, surveilled and enforced, give the inhabitants a sense of security. Some sociologists refer to the creation of fortified enclaves as fortressing. Outsiders can often feel more excluded than with other forms of creating social distance. 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.

One form of a gated community is a gated street, in other words a street where the entry is controlled.

In 2000, 8 million U.S residents lived in gated communities. Another attribute of gated communities is that their population is homogeneous, that is, grouped along boundaries of social class, race/ethnicity or culture. Sometimes the achievement of homogeneity, if this can be said to be an achievement, is one of the underlying purposes behind the creation of the gated community.