Gated and guarded communities in Malaysia: The new roles of the state and civil society
Noor Rosly Hanif et al.
Gated communities have emerged as a new urban form and trend in modern settlements. In general, the concept and practice of a gatedd community implies that communities build a fortresss around themselves in order to improve safety and to provide a refuge from criminal behaviour. On the one hand, it is argued that the physical barriers installed are designed to provide some sense of protection and safety to residents. On the other hand, such barriers may reinforce, in very visible ways, ongoing divisions and territoriality within society. In Malaysia, the perceived problem of gated communities does not only revolve around the issues of physical planning in the short term, but, most importantly, with respect to their potential long term social impacts. These impacts might include, for example, the re-enforcement of social exclusion, quality of life issues for those who live within and without the gatedd environments, and the potential adverse effects that such barriers might have in fostering social cohesion. A new trend in Malaysia introduces the use of humann barriers, through the use of security guards, effectively to gate specific residential neighbourhoods. In response to specific concerns by residents groups who wished to introduce security measures in the form of guards and physical barriers into existing residential neighbourhoods, the Malaysian Government amended the Strata Title Act (1985) and introduced new legislation, the Building and Common Property Act (2007), to regulate the emergence of this trend of gated residential development. This paper presents the findings from research which sought to examine examples of where gated community schemes have been put in place by a local residents association. The case study, Bandar Sri Damansara , Petaling Jaya, Selangor, relates to the retrospective gating of an area and investigates the costs, challenges and benefits of the scheme. The methodology involved a survey and face to face interviews. The findings of the study demonstrate that the efforts to increase the quality of life within this guardedd community resulted in a decrease in levels of crime, a high degree of satisfaction with the work of the residents association and broad satisfaction with the payments involved. Nevertheless, the case study raises wider questions, particularly the need for a wider holistic approach to consider the social and physical impacts of the wider neighbourhood.
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