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Spatial Tensions in Urban Design pp 63–74Cite as

Fear and Segregation: Anxiety Beyond Gated Communities. The Costa Rican Case

Part of the The Urban Book Series book series (UBS)

Abstract

Spatial segregation is one of the main consequences of building gated communities. They are typically walled or fenced, with private security and surveillance devices. Gated communities have been spreading rapidly in Latin America as they are seen as ‘shelters’ against crime; paradoxically, they might be catalysing the fear of crime towards the neighbouring public spaces, fuelling a vicious circle of fear. The way they are fortified represents more than a physical barrier; it contributes to rising tensions between those on different sides of the wall. This essay explores the perception of non-gated residents from eight case studies with different levels of poverty within the Greater Metropolitan Area of Costa Rica. Those views were gathered mainly through walks tracked with a GPS and focus groups; the qualitative data from the walks were codified and visualised through ‘Talk’s track maps’. The essay addresses how gated communities’ edges exacerbate the exclusion feelings in adjacent neighbourhoods and how those reactions are linked to fear of crime.

Keywords

  • Fear-crime
  • Gated communities
  • Residential segregation
  • Costa Rica

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Fig. 5.1

Source Author

Fig. 5.2

Source  Author’s elaboration. Aerial photograph: Google, Maxar Technologies, 2018

Fig. 5.3

Source Author’s elaboration

Notes

  1. 1.

    The unfulfilled needs known as NBI by its acronym in Spanish [Necesidades Básicas Insatisfechas] is a Costa Rican poverty indicator elaborated by the National Institute of Statistics and Census (INEC).

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Acknowledgements

My deep gratitude to the communities involved in this project and the University of Costa Rica for funding the research.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University College London (UCL), London, UK

    Karla Barrantes Chaves

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  1. Karla Barrantes Chaves
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Correspondence to Karla Barrantes Chaves .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Interuniversity Department​ ​of Regional and Urban Studies and Planning (DIST), Politecnico di Torino, Turin, Italy

    Assist. Prof. Ianira Vassallo

  2. Interuniversity Department​ ​of Regional and Urban Studies and Planning (DIST), Politecnico di Torino, ​Turin, Italy

    Michele Cerruti But

  3. Department of Architecture and Urban Studies (DAStU), Politecnico di Milano, ​Milan, Italy

    Giulia Setti

  4. Department of Architecture and Urban Studies (DAStU), Politecnico di Milano, ​Milan, Italy

    Agim Kercuku

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Barrantes Chaves, K. (2021). Fear and Segregation: Anxiety Beyond Gated Communities. The Costa Rican Case. In: Vassallo, I., Cerruti But, M., Setti, G., Kercuku, A. (eds) Spatial Tensions in Urban Design. The Urban Book Series. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-84083-9_5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-84083-9_5

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