Gated Communities and Property Fencing: A Response to Residential Neighbourhood Crime

Abstract

Background: The issue of residential neighbourhood crime is no longer a new discourse as many studies have been done on it. However, the most pressing issue is its unabated trend especially in the developing nations mostly in Africa and Asia. One of the prescribed crime prevention strategies with long history as well as receiving global knowledge and practice is gated communities and property fencing. Aims: It is the intention of this paper to assess the desirability of the concept with a view to considering how it has fared in practice through an in-depth search into relevant literature. Study Design: Relevant journal articles were accessed through Google Scholar, Science Direct, Emerald, Scopus, Researchgate, Sage Journal Online and host of others. Place and Duration of Study: The study was conducted in the Department of Real Estate, Faculty of Technology Management and Business, University Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia, between April and September, 2015. Methodology: The study dwells on the submissions of previous studies on the desirability of gated communities and property fencing in response to neighbourhood crime through review of related literature. Results: This paper reveals that the major reason why people desire to live within gated communities among others is for safety and/or to reduce their fear of crime which was discovered is far from being perfectly achieved. Conclusion: The paper concludes by recommending that remarkable positive effect can be felt if the design concept of crime prevention can be blended with the social factors (SEDeF Model). The article renews the clarion call to the policy makers, urban city planners and researchers to prioritize the issue of property crime to enhance sustainability of our neighbourhoods.