Reports: Preliminary remarks - the "Gated Communities" phenomenonInes
"Gated communities" are now found all over the world, and dominate the market for almost all income groups in the USA, where the idea originated. The actual gate to the fenced community is intended to keep out unwanted visitors. Even developers admit that this cannot eliminate crime; the motivation for the gates is largely psychological. Excluding undesirables is intended to make the residents feel safe and give them a sense of community. The gates to top-class communities used to be very imposing, but the present trend is to make them more reticent and even "camouflage" them by means of the landscape design. Residents may now hardly notice they are coming through the gate, but it is impossible for unauthorized persons to get into the estate. The physical gateway is not as important as the so-called CC&Rs (Codes, Covenants and Restrictions) applicable to the community and affecting to residents' architecture, planting and behaviour and enforced by the developers and then the owners. They ensure architectural and aesthetic uniformity and apply to almost every aspect of private and public design and are intended to define a lifestyle deemed appropriate to the community through consistent owner conformity.
