This paper is interested of analyzing Gated Communities, criticizing their efficiency as a holistic pattern for urban development, hence question their contribution to urban development, and their compatibility in Egyptian context. With question how to enhance their contribution to urban development, and how to reduce their negative impacts on urban development.
In a previous published paper (ghonimi 2010), the process that privatization has affected the formulation of gated urban form in the city are explored, gated communities are comparing with open communities in the ways in which these types of developments are collectively reshape the public and private realms, and finally gated communities are criticized in their reference to traditional Egyptian early stages for development, in their compatibility for unique characteristics of Egyptian new towns, and their reference to dimensions of good urban form theories.
It is concluded that gated communities are not a holistic approach for urban development. There is a division between practice of gated communities and theories of good communities; there is a division between inserted westernized gated pattern and required supposed compatible pattern with unique characteristics of G.C.R new towns. And that gated communities always make micro interest on the cost of macro spillovers, this is not only in livability but also in safety, sustainability, and other different characteristics of good urban form. Finally we concluded that the authority don’t have any awareness of the impact of varied physical characteristics of gated communities.
From this point, and as the spread of this pattern and its problems has to be appeared, a great theoretical trend has started to discover this phenomena. As a planners, we should deal with this phenomena, discover and measure its impact on micro community and adjacent community, discover its potentialities and constraints, and define its role in urban development. Beside, the sheer variety and diversity of Gated Communities physical forms that are springing up in urban fabric of our cities, give rise to a diversity of negative impacts on urban development. This raises a very challenging question about development criteria for plan and land-subdivision approval, about the best use of Gated Communities physical characteristics that could reduce their unwanted impacts on urban development. We should find the suitable planning response to deal with this phenomena, directing it to the sake of sustainability, integrity, livability of urbanism.
Examining the impact of gated communities on urban development, and their impact on the determination of Gated Communities physical characteristics is a critical point, what factor is affecting their efficiency. Two arguments are answered in this research. The first argument is about gated communities impact on urban development for micro private community versus adjacent public community. Do gated communities has a one way impact only on adjacent community or micro community? Or there is a double impact on both macro public community and also micro private community?. The second argument is about these impacts relation to gated communities physical characteristics? What characteristics could minimize these negative impacts?. Is there a relation between micro and macro utility through it we can compromise the suitable physical characteristics of gated communities?.
This paper question the role that Gated communities physical characteristics, and hence development control tools, can make to formulate the right and most efficient strategies for using gated communities taken in mind the measurement of their impact on micro community and adjacent community. In fact many will be impatient with question such as: do the big size has the same impact like the minimum size? How big should gated communities be?, where they should locate? And how they should relate to the city?. What efficient characteristics should gated communities have?. What is the efficient characteristics, that have low negative impacts on development, all these questions is a problematic echo. A significant lack of research on this point exist, So this research intends to contribute to fill this gap.
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