| Title |
Architectural Characteristics and Residents' Perceived and Actual Safety in Gated Communities |
| Keywords |
Gated community ; Territoriality ; Perception of Safety ; Actual Safety from Crime |
| Abstract |
Literally, gated communities are residential areas whose restricted access privatizes normally public space. Gated communities are now available to members of nearly every income level n the United States. Gated communities have been primarily associated with the three research topics including safety, urban segregation, and community cohesion. Because gated communities provide gated and fenced territory, the safety issue has been the most interesting topic for environmental behavioral researchers. This study thus aimed to introduce the concept of gated communities, representative types and general characteristics of gated communities, and to investigate whether the gated territory provide safety from crime to the residents living in the communities. Research methods included the review of literature, site visitations with the standardized check list, and interviews with the property managers and mail-in surveys of residents from gated communities. The research setting of this study is the City of Houston, TX, because the State of Texas has been known as the second state in the quantity of apartment properties in the U.S. Results from the interviews showed that gated and fenced territory do not guarantee the residents' actual or perceived safety from crime. In addition to the physical territory, this study suggested various elements including residents's participations in community issues and their social contacts with their neighbors for increasing residents' perceived and actual safety in their communities. |