I must say I find gated communities a strange idea. Those that feel insecure lock themselves away and leave the rest of us free. Perhaps this is the ultimate in user pays. Such a pity they are blight on the landscape.

I find gated communities horrific. In a way I'm glad the people living in them are there and away from me.

I guess they're a symptom of the increasingly selfish, fearful, individualistic society we've become. Let's hope they choke to death on their own wealth!

...maybe thats a bit much.

I remember an episode of the twilight zone where a family moved into a 'safe' community. The rebelious daughter soon found out they were killing the people who didn't conform. It's wasn't often you found such realism in that show.

Gated communities is soooooooo American and sooooo unAustralian. I can't even think of an unsafe suburb where I really fear for my life here in oz. People from overseas say things like: "the thing i love about Australia is you can walk around the cities by yourself and feel safe". So I don't think the appeal of a gated community is protection from crime.Maybe people living within a gated community like to feel exclusive and privileged.

I might actually correct myself and say: gated communities are so Brazilian and South African. Gated communities in these countries are popular as a form of protection against the high crime rates. In other countries such as the U.s , gated communities are more of a display of prestige, since the suburbs they are built in are safe anyway.

I lived in a gated community and it was not safe because the Landlord sexually harassed me and my younger female flatmates. He would not fix anything while we had visitors (invited because we knew he was coming).
I have been against the idea of churning up native bush and arable land for golf courses. However there is a push for Golf Courses to abide by environmental guidelines in Australia. It is called the AGCSA initiative and can be found under www.agcsa.com.au I recently read this through surfing on links from the Qld EPA website about a golf course that uses its own sustainable watering system.

Thanks for the heads up about the golf link. The east coast gated communites and golf courses do seem to go hand in hand. If there's a push to make them more environmentally sensitive (especially to native fauna), that's a positive.

I'm surprised than more isn't written about gated communities as there will be more of them as the boomers start to retire. They're a strange phenomenon.

Sorry to hear of your hassles living in a gated community. It's also criminal and you should report him. The notion of safety in a gated community is laughable. Statistically, it's who you know, such as a relative, friend or lover who will 'do you in'.

Phil Spector lived in a gated community in LA but that didn't help the poor woman who he bought back to his mansion.

I would like to comment on Davos comments about gated communities being American / South American so forth.

There is actually quite a large amount of evidence showing that gated communities are pretty well a global occurence. They are found in China - where they are built by foreign companies to house Foreign professionals / working migrants (one such example is a company from Singapore who does extensive development work. They are situated in Lebanon where nationals have moved in since the civil war, in an effort to feel secure in their own country. They can be found in Saudi Arabia where they are also popular with foreign professionals (particulary females) again, for a number of reasons. However, It is not just the global residents of these cities moving into these area, again, in Saudi Arabia they are seen as a 'modern' version to closed family compounds - a very old style of living.

Also, there are some examples that gated communities are not just in parts of America where the rich already live – there are a few examples of gated comms in poorer areas.