Date: 2-5 pm, Wednesday, April 24, 2013
Most of the Korean apartment complexes ban non-authorized vehicle access but foot access is usually permitted. However, even the foot access is banned in some apartment complexes, especially smaller ones with less than 5 apartment buildings such as Samseong I-Park in Gangnam District in Seoul.
I went to field trip to observe one of these apartment complexes. The gated apartment complex that I visited is highly unusual because it's quite a big apartment complex having more than 1,000 housing units. Due to its large scale gating, it earned some notoriety from media a couple of years ago. I thought the gating could have been lifted by now but both vehicular and foot accesses are controlled there.
Albeit appearing completely gated, there were a few holes allowing outsiders entering to the complex without permission. No photography was taken due to the fear of getting banned of my unofficial entry to the apartment complex. Security guards of any Korean apartment complex don't tolerate of taking pictures. Identity of the apartment complex will not be revealed in the study due to negative perception of gated apartment complex. However, gating of private properties is legal in South Korea.
1. Location
The site is located in a satellite city of Seoul. It is well connected to Seoul having a metro station in vicinity. The neighborhood is almost entirely residential being composed of apartments, which means it is an affluent neighborhood. (High rise residential neighborhoods tend to be richer than low rise ones in Korea, especially in Seoul.)
2. Overview of the apartment complex
The apartment complex is new having been completed in 2010. It has a deck structure which puts all vehicular traffic and parking lots half-underground. Half-underground means the land was not entirely dug out to make the ground level even with surrounding area. The apartment complex is higher than its surroundings and the altitude itself creates a formidable barrier to outsiders. One should use stairways to enter the apartment complex. As the cars are underground, the apartment complex has plenty of space for greenery and sports. The quality of gardens and sports facilities there are far superior to public amenities funded by the government. A miniature mountain planted with bonsai was especially impressive. It also has a study room, nursery, fitness center and senior center reserved for residents.
The characteristics described above are mostly general characteristics applied not only for the site but also for many deck type apartments built in Korea since 2000's.
3. Gates
The apartment complex has two vehicle entries and all entering vehicles are controlled by security guards. The apartment complex has 11 official foot entries and 1 unofficial foot entry. 9 foot entries face public roads and 3 others directly face public parks on a small hill.
9 foot entries out of 12 are controlled by gates equipped with electronic locks. One should either use card key, type in passwords or ring someone inside to pass the gates. 3 foot entries without electronic locks were something unexpected. 2 are official entries and 1 is unofficial. It is an unofficial entry because you can enter the apartment complex through a small shopping mall attached to the complex which has doors leading to inside and outside of the complex. The small door leading into the complex has no electronic lock. 2 gates facing the public park are open while another gate is permanently locked. The 3 park gates are low height grills and can be climbed without much difficulty.
According to news reports, the gates with digital locks were added after the opening of the apartment complex by the decision of residents. It is evident that the gates were not considered in the design stage because the apartment complex has too many foot entries for an effective control of access. The interview conducted by media presented destruction of amenities by outsiders as the main reason of gating.
No trespassing signs attached to the park gates give another hint on the reason of gating explaining that the park gates were closed due to patients wearing hospital gowns from the neighboring hospital used to lie down on the benches of the apartment complex. Although the park gates don't look oppressive, the tone of warning sign attached to the gates is strong. It says "Outsiders can never enter.".
The result of banning outsiders is a very tranquil atmosphere with limited presence of people and no car.
4. Walls
The walls are generally much higher than average height of male adults due to the elevated altitude of the complex. However, some parts of the walls are lower than human height and even higher walls can be climbed without too much difficulty because these walls are a pile of naturally shaped rocks. This kind of natural looking walls have been encouraged by the government sponsored Tearing Down Apartment Complex Walls Program.
5. Surroundings
The site is surrounded by 4 different apartment complexes and none of them bars foot access of outsiders. 2 out of 4 neighboring complexes were built recently, thus can be compared to the site. These 2 neighboring complexes are located on flat land and have a single level, which means cars are present on the ground level though all parking space is located underground. They were not using any device to limit the foot access of outsiders. The walls are lower than human height and there are not even usual 'no trespassing' signs. One apartment complex allows students from outside using the complex as a short cut to their schools. As a result, these two apartments have a lot more people coming and going in contrast to the site in question.
6. Analysis and Questions
The apartment is one of the first attempts of large scale gating in Korea. However, unlike the first impression, the apartment complex is not meticulously gated. The gating features of the apartment complex is rather symbolic than real in terms of purpose. The gating effectively bars aimless people from entering but can't do much for those who determined to enter.
It will be interesting to know
- why this particular apartment complex alone in the neighborhood needed a symbolic gesture of barring others.
- whether gating was agreed by the majority of residents or it was the initiative of few.
- how much residents appreciate gating.
Most of the Korean apartment complexes ban non-authorized vehicle access but foot access is usually permitted. However, even the foot access is banned in some apartment complexes, especially smaller ones with less than 5 apartment buildings such as Samseong I-Park in Gangnam District in Seoul.
I went to field trip to observe one of these apartment complexes. The gated apartment complex that I visited is highly unusual because it's quite a big apartment complex having more than 1,000 housing units. Due to its large scale gating, it earned some notoriety from media a couple of years ago. I thought the gating could have been lifted by now but both vehicular and foot accesses are controlled there.
Albeit appearing completely gated, there were a few holes allowing outsiders entering to the complex without permission. No photography was taken due to the fear of getting banned of my unofficial entry to the apartment complex. Security guards of any Korean apartment complex don't tolerate of taking pictures. Identity of the apartment complex will not be revealed in the study due to negative perception of gated apartment complex. However, gating of private properties is legal in South Korea.
1. Location
The site is located in a satellite city of Seoul. It is well connected to Seoul having a metro station in vicinity. The neighborhood is almost entirely residential being composed of apartments, which means it is an affluent neighborhood. (High rise residential neighborhoods tend to be richer than low rise ones in Korea, especially in Seoul.)
2. Overview of the apartment complex
The apartment complex is new having been completed in 2010. It has a deck structure which puts all vehicular traffic and parking lots half-underground. Half-underground means the land was not entirely dug out to make the ground level even with surrounding area. The apartment complex is higher than its surroundings and the altitude itself creates a formidable barrier to outsiders. One should use stairways to enter the apartment complex. As the cars are underground, the apartment complex has plenty of space for greenery and sports. The quality of gardens and sports facilities there are far superior to public amenities funded by the government. A miniature mountain planted with bonsai was especially impressive. It also has a study room, nursery, fitness center and senior center reserved for residents.
The characteristics described above are mostly general characteristics applied not only for the site but also for many deck type apartments built in Korea since 2000's.
3. Gates
The apartment complex has two vehicle entries and all entering vehicles are controlled by security guards. The apartment complex has 11 official foot entries and 1 unofficial foot entry. 9 foot entries face public roads and 3 others directly face public parks on a small hill.
9 foot entries out of 12 are controlled by gates equipped with electronic locks. One should either use card key, type in passwords or ring someone inside to pass the gates. 3 foot entries without electronic locks were something unexpected. 2 are official entries and 1 is unofficial. It is an unofficial entry because you can enter the apartment complex through a small shopping mall attached to the complex which has doors leading to inside and outside of the complex. The small door leading into the complex has no electronic lock. 2 gates facing the public park are open while another gate is permanently locked. The 3 park gates are low height grills and can be climbed without much difficulty.
According to news reports, the gates with digital locks were added after the opening of the apartment complex by the decision of residents. It is evident that the gates were not considered in the design stage because the apartment complex has too many foot entries for an effective control of access. The interview conducted by media presented destruction of amenities by outsiders as the main reason of gating.
No trespassing signs attached to the park gates give another hint on the reason of gating explaining that the park gates were closed due to patients wearing hospital gowns from the neighboring hospital used to lie down on the benches of the apartment complex. Although the park gates don't look oppressive, the tone of warning sign attached to the gates is strong. It says "Outsiders can never enter.".
The result of banning outsiders is a very tranquil atmosphere with limited presence of people and no car.
4. Walls
The walls are generally much higher than average height of male adults due to the elevated altitude of the complex. However, some parts of the walls are lower than human height and even higher walls can be climbed without too much difficulty because these walls are a pile of naturally shaped rocks. This kind of natural looking walls have been encouraged by the government sponsored Tearing Down Apartment Complex Walls Program.
5. Surroundings
The site is surrounded by 4 different apartment complexes and none of them bars foot access of outsiders. 2 out of 4 neighboring complexes were built recently, thus can be compared to the site. These 2 neighboring complexes are located on flat land and have a single level, which means cars are present on the ground level though all parking space is located underground. They were not using any device to limit the foot access of outsiders. The walls are lower than human height and there are not even usual 'no trespassing' signs. One apartment complex allows students from outside using the complex as a short cut to their schools. As a result, these two apartments have a lot more people coming and going in contrast to the site in question.
6. Analysis and Questions
The apartment is one of the first attempts of large scale gating in Korea. However, unlike the first impression, the apartment complex is not meticulously gated. The gating features of the apartment complex is rather symbolic than real in terms of purpose. The gating effectively bars aimless people from entering but can't do much for those who determined to enter.
It will be interesting to know
- why this particular apartment complex alone in the neighborhood needed a symbolic gesture of barring others.
- whether gating was agreed by the majority of residents or it was the initiative of few.
- how much residents appreciate gating.
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