The Threat of Gated Communities

The Retreat at Twin Lakes, where Martin died, is the kind of place where people choose to live when they want to be safe – from crime, from outsiders, from economic uncertainty. Of course, it doesn’t always work that way. By fostering suspicion and societal divisions, the argument goes, gated communities can paradoxically compromise safety rather than increasing it. And because they cut residents off from the larger community, writes Edward Blakely, author ofFortress America, they can “shrink the notion of civic engagement and allow residents to retreat from civic responsibility.”

The Threat of Gated Communities - Sarah Goodyear - The Atlantic Cities:

• JUL 15, 2013

Insécurité dans les ghettos français aux yeux d'un urbaniste coréen

(C'est un article écrit en mars 2011 pour mon rapport de stage chez l'IAU-IDF.)

Quand je suis allé en France pour la première fois en 2001, mon amie française m’a dit que l’insécurité en France est un problème qu’aucun homme politique n’a réussi à résoudre. A mon départ de la France après mes études, j’ai témoigné les émeutes dans les banlieues en 2005. Lors de mon stage en France en 2010, la situation ne changeait guère après neuf ans. Les média français bombardaient les gens avec les reportages sur l’insécurité. Les habitants et les maires déploraient la réduction des effectifs policiers. Les actions violentes des casseurs sur la scène de la manifestation contre la réforme de la retraite en 2010 ont été mal comprises par les médias internationaux.

(Source: La Libération)

Disappearing stores in our cities

The internet revolution dramatically changes our lives and even cities. We see ever increasing delivery trucks and delivery men on the streets and also witness disappearing stores. In Korea, bookstores seem to be the weakest link. Neighborhood bookstores are almost dead and only large bookstores remain in commercial areas.

An Amazon distribution center in Wales (Source: Daily Mail)

Unlike the situation in Britain depicted in the Daily Mail article, Korean cities still retain vibrant stores in every corner regardless of burgeoning e-trades. However, many stores owned by individuals are replaced by franchise stores. Bakeries were conquered by franchises long before and there are ongoing battles between chain super markets (SSM in Korean English) and super markets owned by individuals.

These phenomena are economic changes affecting urban planning. We can expect decrease of commercial use in city centers but increase of logistic use in suburbs due to the e-trade. Disappearance of small stores where social interactions take place will weaken community based on neighborhood.

As household-name stores fall prey to online shopping boom, we ask: Will the internet monster eat the High Street?
대형마트 하나둘 개점 사라지는 동네사장님
70년대이후 최대 쇠락산업 ‘자영업’

The first gated community in Korea

The first self-proclaimed gated community in Korea was completed in northern Seoul in 2010. Named as “The Gate Hills”, the small residential community has 16 two-story detached houses within walls and boasts high security that allows no one but the residents into the compound. It is marketed as a manifestation of the housing culture of the upper class wanting protection of privacy. The homepage of the constructor presents gated community as safe and free at the same time, mentioning its American origin - Tuxedo Park in New York.

The Gate Hills (Image from Chosun Ilbo)

Why do I view it as a 'self-proclaimed' gated community? This new development has no amenity reserved for the residents and the very size (16 households) makes me wonder whether it can be qualified as a veritable community. In spite of the inconsistency, it is a significant move in the evolution of Korean housing. There have been a few luxury collective housing compounds controlling both human and vehicular access in Korea, but The Gate Hills seems to be the first individual housing community controlling human access. There are similar projects in other parts of Korea such as Pangyo, new town in the south of Seoul.


For more information, visit the home page (Korean).
To see the photos, read the article of Chosun Ilbo.