A limited number of gated communities have long been established for foreigners in various countries of the world: • The worker compounds in the Middle East, built largely for the oil industry. • The Arbor Oaks
subdivision in
El Monte, California, which appears in the film
Back to the Future Part II as "Hilldale", is now gated because of the fans coming to see it in person. Residents are sometimes angry at fans who come by the development.
Argentina . There are many gated communities in Argentina, especially in
Greater Buenos Aires, in the suburb of
Pilar, 60 km N of
Buenos Aires city, and in other suburban areas, such as
Nordelta. As Mara Dicenta writes, "The story of Nordelta exposes how violent environments are enacted through whiteness and drives for elite distinction. Exemplified by Nordelta, MPCs generate profit by transforming rural into elite lands while rearticulating racial and spatial borders that make distinctions sharper, more guarded, and less porous—between centers and peripheries, grounded and flooded lands, or poachers and conservationists. MPCs originated in the U.S. and continue to circulate American imaginaries of race, segregation, and neoliberal commons worldwide. In this process, they are met with different forms of slow violence rooted in colonial and postcolonial national geographies. Furthermore, in seeking to capitalize on those racialized differences, global real estate corporations also circulate and help materialize homogenizing visions of racial formation."
Australia Although gated communities have been rare in Australia, since the 1980s, a few have been built. The most well-known are those at
Hope Island, in particular
Sanctuary Cove, on the
Gold Coast of
Queensland. Other similar projects are being built in the area. In
Victoria, the first such development is
Sanctuary Lakes, in the local government area of
Wyndham , about 16 km south west of
Melbourne. In
New South Wales, there is
Macquarie Links gated community as well as Southgate Estate gated community. Many Australian gated communities are built within private golf courses. In the ACT, the only example is
Uriarra Village, based around community horse paddocks and dwellings jointly managed through strata title.
Bangladesh The trade association for real estate developers in
Bangladesh,
RAJUK, stated in 2021 that the capital city
Dhaka had approximately 25 gated communities. While RAJUK claimed that these communities adhered to the global standard of keeping 60% of the land in the gated community for open spaces and common use, the Bangladesh Institute of Planners disputed this claim, advocating for fewer gated communities in the city centres.
Brazil , a gated community in the suburbs of
São Paulo, Brazil, which is also a
business center of its city proper,
Barueri Brazil also has many gated communities, particularly in the metropolitan regions
Rio de Janeiro and
São Paulo. For example, one of São Paulo's suburbs,
Tamboré, has at least 6 such compounds known as Tamboré 1, 2, 3, and so on. Each consists of generously spaced detached houses with very little to separate front gardens. One of the first large-scale gated community projects in
São Paulo city region was
Barueri's
Alphaville, planned and constructed during the 1970s
military dictatorship when the big cities of Brazil faced steep increases of
car ownership by the middle and higher-classes,
rural exodus, poverty, crime,
urban sprawl, and downtown
decay.
Canada Neighbourhoods with "physical" or explicit gating with security checkpoints and patrols are extremely rare, being absent in even some of Canada's richest neighbourhoods such as
Bridle Path, Toronto. Furthermore, municipal planning laws in many Canadian provinces ban locked gates on public roads as a health issue since they deny emergency vehicles quick access. A noted exception in Canada is
Arbutus Ridge, an
age-restricted community constructed between 1988 and 1992 on the southeastern coast of
Vancouver Island. More common in most Canadian neighbourhoods, especially the largest cities, is an implicit or symbolic gating which effectively partitions the private infrastructure and amenities of these communities from their surrounding neighbourhoods. A classic example of this is the affluent
Montreal suburb of
Mount Royal, which has a long fence running along its side of L'Acadie Boulevard that for all intents and purposes separates the community from the more working-class neighbourhood of
Park Extension. Also, many newer suburban subdivisions employ decorative gates to give the impression of exclusivity and seclusion. Some gated communities have been planned in recent years in Greater Toronto, although they are infrequent.
China In China, some of these compounds, like most other gated communities around the world, target the rich. Also many foreigners live in gated communities in
Beijing. Often foreign companies choose the locations where their foreign employees will live, and in most cases, they pay the rent and associated costs (e.g. management fees and garden work). Similar communities exist in
Shanghai, another major Chinese city. Shanghai Links, an exclusive expatriate community enclosing a golf course and the
Pudong campus of
Shanghai American School, is an example. The Shanghai Links project began in 1994 with the signing by the then Prime Minister of Canada,
Honourable Jean Chretien, of a Memorandum of Agreement with the Shanghai Pudong New Area Government controlled company, Huaxia Tourism Development Company. Other notable gated communities in Shanghai include Seasons Villas, a development by
Hutchinson Whampoa; Thomson Golf Villas, and Green Villas. Other gated communities in China such as those in the
Daxing District of Beijing enclose the homes of rural migrants. These are intended to reduce crime and increase public order and safety, which the
Chinese Communist Party-run ''
People's Daily'' claims it has, by 73%. The system is controversial as it segregates migrants and the poor, with some claiming its true purpose is to keep track of migrants, but it is scheduled for implementation in
Changping District also. In Guangzhou,
Australian Villa is an example of an early gated villa community built in the 1990s to attract both affluent locals and expatriates.
Ecuador Ecuador has many gated communities, mostly in
Guayaquil and
Quito. In the coastal city of Guayaquil, gated communities are mostly located in
Samborondón, and in Quito in the valleys surrounding the city. These are home mostly for the wealthiest. However, there is a trend -especially in Guayaquil- of houses in gated communities with moderate prices.
Egypt Due to the population boom and an increasing class segregation, gated communities have been more and more established in Egypt since the 1970s.
Greater Cairo, for example, is home to
El Rehab and
Dreamland, Mountain View Egypt. There is also
El Maamoura in
Alexandria. They were criticized for being a
niche market that fails to address the crippling congestion problem in Cairo.
Italy Two examples of gated community in Italy are
Olgiata in
Rome and the village of
Roccamare, in
Castiglione della Pescaia,
Tuscany.
Lebanon Because of the pollution, the lack of proper infrastructure, electrical power and green spaces in residential areas outside of
Beirut, the high class society chooses to reside in gated communities for a better living environment. Gated communities in Lebanon are mainly in the suburbs of the capital city
Beirut.
Malaysia In Malaysia, these are known as Gated and Guarded Communities and have been seeing a steady increase in popularity. Currently, according to the Town and Country Planning Department, there are four types of gated communities in Malaysia, namely: • Elite community: this type of gated community is primarily occupied by the upper-class or high-income group of people. It focuses on exclusion and status in which security is one of the major concerns due to the resident's status within the community. • Lifestyle community: the lifestyle community generally consists of retirement communities, leisure communities and suburban 'new towns'. Activities inside these communities can include golf courses, horseback riding and residents-oriented leisure activities. • Security zone community: the security zone community is the most popular type of gated community in which it offers a housing development that is surrounded by fences or gates. This development is normally provided with guard services. • Security zone community and lifestyle: this type of gated community housing development is usually developed within a city centre. It focuses on both the security aspect and the provision of lifestyle facilities for its residents. The gated community is a concept that emerged in response to the rise of safety and security issues, and offers more advantages in terms of a calm environment and enhanced safety that is ideal for family development.
Mauritius Several gated communities now exist on the island of
Mauritius since the government introduced Integrated Resort Schemes (IRS) and Real Estate Schemes (RES) in the mid-1990s. Recently they have been amalgamated into Property Development Schemes (PDS). The government also introduced Smart City permits and in 2016 it secured the assistance of Saudi Arabia to launch the government's version of a gated Smart City known as Heritage City Project which was proposed at Minissy, in the region of Ebène, with the assistance of Saudi Arabia.
Mexico Gated communities in Mexico are a result of the huge income gap existing in the country. A 2008 study found that the average income in an urban area of Mexico was $26,654, a rate higher than advanced regions like Spain or Greece while the average income in rural areas (sometimes just a short distance away) was only $8,403. This close a proximity of wealth and poverty has created a large security risk for Mexico's middle class. Gated communities can be found in virtually every medium and large-sized city in Mexico with the largest found in major cities, such as
Monterrey,
Mexico City or
Guadalajara. Luxury or "status" gated communities are very popular with middle to high income residents in Mexico. Gated luxury communities in Mexico are considerably cheaper than in countries such as the United States while retaining houses of similar size and quality due to the commonness of the communities and the lower cost to build them and are priced lower to attract middle class residents. Many gated communities in Mexico have fully independent and self-contained infrastructure, such as schools, water and power facilities, security and fire forces, and medical facilities. Some of the larger gated communities even retain their own school districts and police departments. The
Interlomas area of Mexico City contains hundreds of gated communities and is the largest concentration of gated communities in the world, stretching over . The surrounding areas of Santa Fe, Bosques-Lomas, Interlomas-Bosque Real, are also made up predominantly of gated communities and span over 30% of
Greater Mexico City. Many smaller gated communities in Mexico are not officially classified as separate gated communities as many municipal rules prohibit closed off roads. Most of these small neighbourhoods cater to lower middle income residents and offer a close perimeter and check points similar to an "authentic" gated community. This situation is tolerated and sometimes even promoted by some city governments due to the lack of capacity to provide reliable and trusted security forces.
New Zealand In
New Zealand, gated communities have been developed in suburban areas of the main cities since the 1980s and 1990s.
Nigeria Gated communities are widespread in Nigeria, where they are often referred to as housing estates or villas. These estates can cover between 50 and 100 hectares, with one,
the Gwarimpa estate, spanning more than a thousand hectares. Additionally, some of them offer amenities like schools, daycares, gyms, playgrounds, supermarkets and parks. In urban centers like
Lagos,
Lagos Island, and
Abuja, a number of estates are luxury estates catering exclusively to Nigeria's upper class, including politicians, government officials, CEOs, and celebrities. In contrast, there are also more affordable estates which target Nigeria's middle class. Gated communities appeal to Nigerians primarily because of the exclusivity and sense of security they provide. Many estates have tightly controlled entrances, ensuring that unauthorized or unfamiliar individuals cannot gain access.Another form of gated community common in Nigeria is the quarters, typically developed and reserved for employees of a particular organization and their families. For example, many Nigerian universities, including the
University of Ibadan have staff quarters. These staff quarters are usually located within or near the organization's premises.
Pakistan in
Bahria Town Karachi] Pakistan has a very large number of gated communities, most of which target
middle class Pakistanis. The largest being
Bahria Town, which is also the largest in
Asia and has communities in major cities.
Defence Housing Authority is also a major developer of gated communities. Others include
WAPDA Town, Gulberg, Islamabad and
Schon Properties, while
Emaar Properties also maintains several gated communities in the country targeting primarily
upper class people. Gated communities in Pakistan are mostly immune from problems of law enforcement and lack of energy faced by the majority of the other housing societies. In a short time, the property prices in such communities have greatly increased – in 2007 a 20-square-meter house in
Bahria Town,
Lahore cost around four million Pakistani rupees ($40,000); a similar property in 2012 costed nine million rupees, while houses are priced around 100-300 million rupees. The Bahria Town of Karachi is currently constructing Rafi Cricket Stadium, when completed will be the largest stadium in the country and Grand Jamia Mosque, when completed will be the largest in South Asia and third-largest in the world.
Peru middle class gated community of Lima, Peru
Lima,
Peru has several gated communities, especially in the wealthy districts of
La Molina and
Santiago de Surco. They are home to many prominent Peruvians.
Philippines The
Philippines has a large number of gated communities which are known in
Philippine English as "subdivisions" or "villages". Gated communities represent one of the main residency types for upper and middle class Filipinos up and down the country, along with condominiums. Regardless of their names, such communities may either form part of a larger
barangay (village), or constitute a single barangay in and of themselves. Gated communities are often grouped by the phase of build, or by project number, and homes within these communities are designated with a
lot and block number on a street as opposed to conventional house numbers or building names. Gated communities are divided between two types: • Executive subdivisions/villages: Along with condominiums, these are the residential neighbourhoods of the wealthiest in Philippine society. Examples of these include
Bel-Air, Greenwoods Executive Villages, Magallanes village,
Dasmarinas Village and
Ayala Alabang village. • Subdivisions/villages: Gated communities targeted to the Philippine middle classes. These may begin with a name and end with a number E.g. "Kalayaan Village 3", the 3 designating that it is the third subdivision project for the land development company under the "Kalayaan" homes project. Examples of subdivisions include
BF Homes, Camella Homes, among a majority of wealthier suburban areas.
Russia Aerobus live complex is the
de facto first gated community in Moscow. Business center is in this complex but outside the residential area. Potapovo (known as New Moscow, but developed with North Butovo to RAS members) - known as fenced Kommunarka-Butovo road between 1994-2000 and Moscow had to build another road. Service company has bus license and guard wearing uniform is always in a bus (not usual even in strict restricted acsess). Later they opened trade center but neither allowed to cut the corner or use 2 entrances (from northbound). Fence lowers effectiveness of bus routes and direct or loop extension of line 12. This area set to order bus on demand but paxes ordered to walk outside.
Ozero is a cooperative formed around
Vladimir Putin's
dacha on
Lake Komsomolskoe (),
Priozersky District,
Leningrad Oblast.
Saudi Arabia In
Saudi Arabia, many expatriate workers are required to live in company-provided housing. After the
2003 attack on Al Hambra, Jadawel, Siyanco and Vinell by militant Saudi dissidents, the government established tight military security for those compounds with large western populations. Many western individuals also reside in the many other gated compounds or non-gated villas and apartments in the cities that they work.
Saudi Aramco provides a
compound in
Dhahran which is one of the largest of its kind within Saudi Arabia. Gated communities are also popular with many Saudis, which accounts for the limited availability of open villas in these communities and the premium rent paid for that housing. These compounds can be found in many of Saudi Arabia's cities, including but not limited to Abha, Dhahran, Riyadh, and Taif.
Singapore Sentosa Cove is the only gated residential community in
Singapore, containing 350 bungalows on a 99-year leasehold term. It is the only landed housing that can be purchased by non-citizens. Despite this, as of 2021, the properties transact at a lower price to comparable areas on the mainland.
South Africa South Africa has an increasing number of
gated communities, where the wealthy sometimes live in close proximity to the urban poor (yet with little contact between the two).
Thailand Many housing estates in Thailand take the form of gated communities, targeted to the upper and middle classes. They may be managed by the development company or by resident committees. Gated communities are often referred to as
mubans in Thailand.
Turkey Turkey has several gated communities, especially in Istanbul and Ankara. Called "kapalı site" in Turkish, they are mostly located around the edge of the city.
United Arab Emirates In the United Arab Emirates, gated communities have exploded in popularity, particularly in
Dubai, where the 2002 decision to allow foreigners to own freehold properties has resulted in the construction of numerous such communities built along various themes. Examples include The Lakes, Springs, Meadows, and
Arabian Ranches.
United Kingdom Gated communities were established in the late 1920s in response to the increasing crime rates in cities. The first gated community was established in 1928 by
John Galsworthy on the outskirts of London. In the
United Kingdom, gated communities are relatively rare. In 2004 there were an estimated 1,000 such communities in
England (i.e. not including
Scotland,
Wales and
Northern Ireland). As of 2002, the majority of these communities were found to be in the
South East and most were small developments; only four
local authorities had one or more gated communities with over 300 dwellings. They generally consisted of a gated street of up to 60 or 100 houses, or a single block of flats. It has been noted that as far as buyer motivation is concerned, issues of security, exclusivity and prestige were often subsumed by a desire to obtain property that would
maintain its value. Although the appeal of these communities is said to be mainly be to "
young affluent singles" and older couples, this varies significantly according to location and the availability of accommodation types. Unlike in America, marketing materials rarely refer to any community aspect of living in a gated development. Examples from London include the
Docklands developments of
New Caledonian Wharf, Kings and Queen Wharf and
Pan Peninsula, and
East London locations like the
Bow Quarter in
Bow.
United States from Grays Ferry Avenue in
Philadelphia The earliest American gated communities date to the 1850s, though it was in the early 1900s when they first began to proliferate. Most gated communities are today located in the
Sun Belt region in the South and West, where there is more land available for development. Although they are often unincorporated, there are numerous
incorporated gated cities in
Southern California, namely
Bradbury,
Canyon Lake,
Hidden Hills,
Laguna Woods, and
Rolling Hills. In 2002,
USA Today reported that approximately 40% of new builds in California were behind walls. By 1997, an estimated 20,000 gated communities had been built across the country. That year, estimates of the number of people in gated communities ranged from 4 million in 30,000 communities up to around 8 million. This growth continued and by 2009 figures from the
American Housing Survey indicated that the number of people living in gated communities had risen to 11 million households.
Ed Blakely distinguishes between "prestige communities" of the rich and socially distinguished and "security zones", in which safety is the main goal. Nevertheless, much of the literature points to gated communities as contributing to greater social seclusion and segregation. Common motivations for moving into them are fear of crime and a
desire to escape demographic change — gated communities are generally
ethnically homogenous. Alternatively, a 2015
Urban Studies article argued that while gated communities in the southwestern United States entrenched social segregation, no effect was present for racial segregation, as the streets they bordered tended to already be segregated on a racial level.
Uruguay Gated communities in
Uruguay are known locally as 'barrios privados' or private neighbourhoods. There is no official data on how widespread gated communities in Uruguay are, but by 2013 at least 20 were known to exist in the
Maldonado Department, seven in the
Canelones Department, seven in
Rocha, one in
Soriano, and two in
Rio Negro. Gated communities had experienced "huge growth" by 2020, and were a popular choice for foreigners with families, although rental returns are reportedly low and the properties will not necessarily appreciate in value. While socially exclusive areas exist in the capital
Montevideo, such as the
Carrasco barrio, the closing of streets is not permitted and attempts to build gated communities within the city limits have been refused. La Tahona and Carmel are two of the most prominent gated communities located just outside Montevideo in the Canelones Department and nearby to the
Zonamerica business park and
Carrasco International Airport. La Tahona and Carmel both adjoin Camino de los Horneros, a road immediately north of
Ciudad de la Costa that connects to multiple gated communities with 2000 homes in total, though these numbers are expected to eventually treble. Numerous gated communities have also been constructed in
Punta Del Este. Demand for gated communities in Uruguay has increased in recent years due to the growing availability of
remote working, and amenities like swimming pools can be found more often than in Montevideo. They have also become more accessible to the
middle class as pre-designed new builds have become common, as opposed to the older model of requiring individual owners to buy a plot and then hire their own builder. The resulting
economies of scale have helped to keep average prices lower than they otherwise would be. ==See also==