Abstract
It is important to analyse the growth of gated communities and the drivers for their supply and demand, within the context specific to each country’s history. This article uses findings from recent studies of gated communities in England, together with historical material, to explore their typology. It considers the changing social, economic and political conditions which may lead to the emergence of defended collective housing, together with the history of property relations and the concept of public/private land within the English context.
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Acknowledgements
The author gratefully acknowledges funding provided by the British Academy for the Sheffield study of a gated community and that provided by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister for the national study of gated communities. This research was carried out with Rowland Atkinson and John Flint (University of Glasgow) and with Diane Lister (formerly Sheffield Hallam University, now the University of Cambridge) who have generously allowed use to be made of our joint findings. This paper was first presented at “The Privatization of Urban Space: Gated Communities – A New Trend in Global Urban Development?” conference at the University of New Orleans, 26–28 February 2004; the author is grateful to the Center Austria for sponsoring her attendance and to all the conference participants for the stimulating discussions there and elsewhere.
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Blandy, S. Gated communities in England: historical perspectives and current developments. GeoJournal 66, 15–26 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10708-006-9013-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10708-006-9013-4