Gated Communities. Social Sustainability in Contemporary and Historical Gated Development

摘要

This book's first chapter clearly presents a critical view of gated communities. In a virulent text directed at the "laissez-faire consumer capitalism", Ziauddin Sardar argues that: "the gated community exemplifies the vision of islands of abundance floating in oceans of poverty" (p. 9). His view echoes several other essays on the city. It does not, however, reflect the prevailing opinion of researchers who have conducted field studies on gated communities. Many of these researchers present a more balanced perspective, and their findings are described in other chapters of the book. Notably, both editors take an empathetic look at gated communities and, in fact, indicate in their biographical notes that they live in gated communities. Almost all the researchers who have contributed to this book have actively participated in the international research network on gated communities, "private urban governance & gated communities".1 Two authors, Karina Landman and Renaud Le Goix, organized two symposia within this network in Pretoria (2005) and Paris (2007). The back cover of the book also includes positive reviews by seminal members of the network, Setha Low and Chris Webster, and Rowland Atkinson who was also an organizer for one of the network's symposium.