Gated Communities: Walls of Exclusion | Estateplanning

Gated communities have been a staple of suburban development since the 1980s, with over 10 million households in the United States living behind gates, according to a 2019 survey by the American Community Survey. The concept of gated communities originated in ancient civilizations, such as the walled cities of medieval Europe, but the modern version emerged in the 1960s and 1970s in Southern California, with the development of communities like Leisure World in Laguna Woods, California. Critics argue that gated communities perpetuate social and economic segregation, as seen in the case of the 1992 Los Angeles riots, where gated communities were often used to separate affluent neighborhoods from low-income areas. Proponents, on the other hand, claim that gated communities provide a sense of security and community, as evidenced by the high demand for such developments in cities like Miami and Las Vegas. However, studies have shown that gated communities can also have negative effects on mental health, with a 2018 study published in the Journal of Environmental Psychology finding that residents of gated communities reported higher levels of anxiety and depression. As the debate surrounding gated communities continues, it is clear that these developments will remain a contentious issue in urban planning, with cities like New York and San Francisco implementing policies to limit the construction of new gated communities.