GeoJournal (2006) 66:121–132

DOI 10.1007/s10708-006-9011-6

ORIGINAL PAPER

Gated communities and urban fragmentation in Latin

America: the Brazilian experience
Martin Coy

Received: 18 April 2006 / Accepted: 5 May 2006 / Published online: 23 September 2006
Ó Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2006

Abstract Since the mid-1970s, gated housing Keywords Alphaville Æ Brazil Æ condomı́nios
areas of the privileged have been spreading in fechados Æ São Paulo Æ urban fragmentation
Latin American cities. They have to be seen as a
visible consequence of the deepening social dis-
parities within Latin American societies and the
resulting fragmentation of urban space. Condo- Introduction
mı́nios fechados (Brazil) or barrios cerrados
(Argentina) can be typified following different Today, gated communities of different types and
criteria, such as formation, location, size, fittings, dimensions are common elements in almost all
construction typology, as well as social structure. Latin American cities. They are known as barrios
Three groups of actors influence the process of cerrados or urbanizaciones privadas in the His-
their expansion: the real estate companies, for pano-American countries and as condomı́nios
which the new form of living offers an attractive fechados in Brazil. Their very rapid expansion
market segment, the target groups, whose occurred in most Latin American countries dur-
increasing expectations regarding security and ing the last 30 years. Gated communities have to
living comfort need to be met, and the public be seen as an essential part of far-reaching
authorities, who have to find adequate responses socioeconomic changes and the resulting socio-
concerning the further orientation of urban spatial differentiation of the Latin American city,
development. Based on case studies from Brazil, which can be described as a process of increasing
the paper will discuss the different phases of urban fragmentation (Bähr & Mertins, 1995; Coy,
gated community expansion and the reasons why 2002, 2003; Gilbert, 1998).
this is happening. Their internal structure and In recent years, a lot of research has been done
differentiation, as well as consequences for socio- on gated communities in different Latin-Ameri-
spatial development and urban planning will also can megacities, such as Santiago de Chile, Buenos
be dealt with. Aires, Mexico-City, São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro
(Borsdorf, 2002). What we do not have at the
moment, however, due to the lack of official sta-
tistical information, are quantitative data con-
M. Coy (&) cerning the number of gated communities and the
Department of Geography, University of Innsbruck,
Innrain, 52, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria
people living in them for Latin America as a
e-mail: [email protected] whole. Nevertheless, for some of the Latin

123
122 GeoJournal (2006) 66:121–132

American megacities we have very informative regionally defined traditional lifestyles towards a
data, which prove the importance of the phe- more homogeneous, globalized lifestyle of the
nomenon. Thus, in the Buenos Aires agglomera- privileged. For the elites to live in gated com-
tion, for example, some 450 barrios cerrados munities constituted an integrative element.
emerged for more or less half a million inhabit- The proliferation of gated communities has led
ants during the 1990s alone (Janoschka, 2002, p. to a series of consequences that shake the socio-
291). Studies for the metropolitan area of Mexico cultural and spatial fundaments of the Latin
City show that during the same period over 700 American city itself. As living in gated housing
condomı́nios cerrados with more or less 50,000 areas continues to be largely a privilege of the
homes were developed (Kanitscheider, 2002, wealthier urban dwellers, the emergence of gated
p. 255). The number of gated communities in the communities has to be interpreted as the product
Brazilian megacities is certainly not smaller. On of increased socioeconomic disparities in urban
the contrary, they contain some of the biggest society. In this sense, they form a new quality of
gated housing areas of the whole sub-continent urban space: visible islands of wealth that ap-
(e.g. Alphaville in São Paulo with more or less peared in inner-city areas as well as in suburban
40,000 inhabitants) (Caldeira, 2000; Coy & Pöh- districts. To fulfil the motives of their self-segre-
ler, 2002a, b). However, all these individual fig- gating inhabitants, the internal logics of gated
ures have to be handled and compared carefully, communities mainly follow the principles of pri-
because there still exist a lot of uncertainties vacy and exclusivity. Thus they are the extreme
concerning definitions, types etc. opposite to public accessibility, which constitutes
an important element of the socio-cultural quali-
ties of urban life, at least in the conventional
Gated communities and urban fragmentation: perception of the city. Altogether, gated com-
framework conditions munities deepen the fragmentation of urban
society and urban space. Due to their totally
The emergence of gated communities depends on privatized organization, they form new extrater-
several prerequisites on the one hand, and, on the ritorial spaces beyond public management and
other, they have several consequences on the ur- control and, consequently, they render the
ban socioeconomic and spatial structures. During boundaries between public and private space
the 1990s in particular urban processes in Latin increasingly irreconcilable.
America were submitted to changing structural Gated communities are, however, only one
conditions due to the adoption of neo-liberal element in the extremely complex patchwork of
political rules in most of the countries of the the fragmented Latin American cities (Fig. 1).
region (Ribeiro, 2000). The state, at the national The dichotomy of islands of wealth in oceans of
as well as at the local level, reduced its direct poverty probably describes the overall structural
interference in socioeconomic and spatial devel- character of this urban patchwork. The general
opment according to the neo-liberal principles of feature of this social and spatial structure is
deregulation, flexibility and privatization. At the nothing new, because Latin American cities have
same time these policies opened more and more always been characterized by social inequality
space to private capital interests. These changes (Gilbert, 1998). But the increasing depth of social
are the main reasons why certain urban actors, inequalities, its specific spatial representations, as
including real estate companies, big private well as its internal rules have reached dimensions
investors or the wealthier urban dwellers, were in recent years which were formerly not known.
able to increase their control over urban change The driving forces which influence more and
and development. Simultaneously, the increased more these diverging elements of urban devel-
mobility and receptivity of urban elites to the opment and which determine the decisions and
different socioeconomic and cultural influences of actions of the urban groups are determined both
globalization reinforced the change of locally or by external structural conditions as well as by the

123
GeoJournal (2006) 66:121–132 123

Fig. 1 The fragmentation of Latin American cities

inherent interests, values, limitations and neces- and reproduction. An example of this phenome-
sities of internal groups. non can be seen in São Paulo (Maricato, 1996). In
Concerning these urban places of action and view of these largely diverging patterns of urban
representation of the wealthy, three factors fragmentation, public authorities have very little
should be taken into consideration in order to to offer with regard to new forms of regulation
understand the rationality of the resulting urban which aim to balance socioeconomic and spatial
fragments: status, lifestyle and security. As con- disparities. In this sense, urban fragmentation, the
crete features resulting from urban fragments, we formation of so-called ‘‘no-entrance-areas’’ on
can observe not only the gated communities the one hand and ‘‘no-go-areas’’ on the other,
which are at the fore of this contribution, but also constitutes increasing challenges for urban poli-
an increased number of shopping centres, urban tics and urban planning.
entertainment centres, highly sophisticated busi- One of the most common features associated
ness parks as well as revitalized areas in the often with the deterioration of living conditions in
degraded city centres. In general, these different Latin American cities is the increase in urban
urban fragments are closely linked to each other, violence. The fear of crime is generally cited as
forming a network of places in the everyday life the most important reason for the enormous
of the socioeconomically, culturally and politi- success of gated housing areas. Data on urban
cally dominant urban classes. On the other hand, violence in Latin America show the significance
accelerating marginalization processes and the of this point (Cardia, 2000). Fifteen of every
reacting survival strategies of the growing number 100,000 urban inhabitants in Latin America are
of urban poor determine very often the informally killed each year. In Brazil this rate is even
organized structure of their places of production higher with almost 25 of every 100,000 inhabitants.

123
124 GeoJournal (2006) 66:121–132

But violence is not homogeneously distributed Gated communities in Brazil: a success story
throughout urban society. If we analyze the
data for different cities and different age groups The expansion of the so-called condomı́nios fe-
and different social classes, an unequal exposure chados in Brazilian cities can be subdivided into
to violence becomes evident. Generally speak- four phases (Fig. 2). The period until the 1970s,
ing, violence is concentrated in megacities, for which was, according to overall changes of the
example Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, and Brazilian society, characterized by increased
especially in peripheral parts of the metropoli- urbanization and the modernization of traditional
tan areas. Today the homicide rate of São Paulo lifestyles, appears as a phase associated with the
is at about 60 per 100,000 inhabitants, which is inner-city displacement of exclusive housing
more than double the national average. areas. However, due to the limited security mea-
Concerning age groups, homicide is the main sures of the typical apartment houses, the bor-
cause of death amongst the young and specifi- derline between public and private space was
cally males today. In São Paulo, the rates in- much less clear than in the following phases. The
creased up to 260 homicides per 100,000 for 1970s can be considered as a decisive turning
males between 15–24 years of age in 1995. point, because that is when the first gated housing
Occurrences of homicide are especially high in complexes appeared in the Brazilian metropoles.
marginalized poor urban areas. The same fea- Some megaprojects, which were entirely planned
tures can be observed for other types of violent and completed by project developers, had an
crime, such as rape and drugs. Privileged people exemplary effect on subsequent phases: Barra da
and the urban middle-class are much more Tijuca in Rio de Janeiro, and especially the
exposed to assaults and the various forms of Alphaville project in the surroundings of São
robbery. More than one million inhabitants of Paulo (Coy & Pöhler, 2002a). In their internal
São Paulo, that means 10% of the city’s popu- structure, their project execution, as well as in
lation, have been victim of a violent assault at their marketing concepts, these projects were
least once, and more than four million have clearly modelled after North American examples
experienced thefts or burglaries. One specific (Blakely & Snyder, 1997). In addition to an
form of urban violence, which has increased increasing mobility, which made life in suburban
significantly in Latin American cities during the areas acceptable and attractive even for privi-
last few years, is kidnapping. It affects espe- leged groups, the aggravation of urban violence
cially wealthier groups. These data show that problems certainly was the main reason for the
urban violence affects social groups in very success of this new real estate product. The
different ways and also corresponds to the emergence of the condomı́nios fechados coin-
increasing social disparities that result from cided with the first shopping centres in Brazilian
urban fragmentation. Also different are the metropoles. This is important, not only because
responses of these groups to violence. Deter- shopping centres transform the consumption
mining varying degrees of vulnerability and the habits of the urban upper and middle classes, but
capacity to cope with violence depends mainly they also contribute to a socio-spatial re-orientation,
on the income levels of the affected groups, as they take over a series of representative and
because security in Latin American cities is recreational functions which were formerly
becoming less and less a public good, and is attributed to the city centres and the city’s public
increasingly attaining the purview of the private spaces (Frúgoli, 1995). The definitive success of
sector. This observation can be verified by the the gated communities occurred during the 1980s
increased number of firms which profit and 1990s. As a consequence of the neo-liberal
financially from the citizens’ fear of crime. In withdrawal of the state, urban governability fell
São Paulo alone, 313 private security firms had more and more into a crisis during this period and
a turnover of more than 400,000 Euro yearly at urban violence problems increased rapidly.
the end of the 1990s (Coy & Pöhler, 2002b, Therefore, the demand for supposedly secure
p. 268). forms of living increased. This is not only the case

123
GeoJournal (2006) 66:121–132 125

Fig. 2 Phases of expansion of gated communities in Brazilian cities

for Brazilian megacities, but also for regional as evidence of the global character of the gated
metropoles and for middle-sized towns. Besides community phenomenon. Six criteria are identi-
the increasing regional diffusion of gated com- fied, four of which have an objective and material
munities, a social demand of competing groups content: origin, location, the prevailing construc-
took place during the phase during the 1990s. tive character, size and equipment. Two other
Gated communities were no longer only the factors belong much more in the socio-cultural
privilege of the well-off, as the urban middle- domain: the social structure of the inhabitants and
classes followed more and more their example. their affiliation with different lifestyle groups.
Another differentiation could be observed con- Concerning the origin of condomı́nios fechados in
cerning the size and preferred locations of con- Brazilian cities, most of them are completely
domı́nios fechados. Increasing violence problems planned projects. But apart from these planned
within gated communities, as well as the obvious projects, there exists an increasing tendency to
disadvantages of gated housing areas in suburban gate normal residential areas later by blocking
areas (distance to work, traffic problems etc.) are roads, installing cameras and employing security
the main reasons for the enormous success of services. In São Paulo, for example, this tendency
smaller projects in inner-city areas, the so-called is so important, that public authorities were ob-
condomı́nios horizontais. liged several times to decree specific rules to
As a result of the variations in condomı́nios regulate the privately organized blocking of
fechados during their more or less thirty years of public streets (Coy & Pöhler, 2002b). Another
existence in Brazilian cities, it is possible to criterion for classification is the location of con-
establish some criteria for a classification (Coy & domı́nios fechados. This criterion is directly
Pöhler, 2002b). This classification probably does linked to the constructive character of the gated
not differ significantly from similar attempts housing areas. Inner-city condomı́nios are nor-
elsewhere in the world. This fact can be interpreted mally formed by apartment house complexes,

123
126 GeoJournal (2006) 66:121–132

which are not only gated and surveyed, but con- ready for immediate occupancy. This constitutes
tain at the same time sophisticated recreational one of the main attractions for the target groups,
and supply infrastructures. This is the typical sit- who can make their personal choice on complete
uation of Barra da Tijuca in Rio de Janeiro (Coy packages fulfilling their specific demands
& Pöhler, 2002a). However, the differences be- concerning security, residential quality, round-
tween inner-city condomı́nios and ‘normal’ the-clock care, and other lifestyle necessities.
apartment houses become more and more unclear However, the position of public authorities con-
because only 90% of apartment houses in São cerning the spreading condomı́nio fechado-market
Paulo and Rio de Janeiro were gated at the end of remains much more complicated. First of all, public
the 1990s. On the other hand, a very large number authorities have very little direct influence on the
of gated communities have been established in process of planning and realization of gated com-
suburban metropolitan areas during the past munities. This fact reveals the increasing weakness
thirty years. There, individual houses prevail. This of local governments under neo-liberal rules. In
location fulfils at best the hope of the target this regard, the implicit conflict between public
groups who aspire to a quiet life in ‘‘rural har- accessibility and the privatization of urban space
mony,’’ far away from the stress of the cities. In proves to be an overriding challenge for public
addition, in suburban municipalities it was easier authorities, necessitating, among other things,
for project developers to buy land at low prices, adequate mechanisms to solve neighbourhood
and local authorities, who expected a develop- conflicts and specific rules of land regulation. In
ment push for their municipalities, did not hinder addition, the uncontrolled spread of condomı́nios
their actions by establishing planning rules. In fechados results in several consequential charges
these locations we also find the largest number of for the local municipalities, such as costs for
projects. Alphaville, in the São Paulo metropoli- improving transport facilities and basic infrastruc-
tan area, is the best example. Apart from income ture, services which are demanded strongly by the
differences, Brazilian condomı́nios fechados so new inhabitants of the condomı́nios. Against this
far vary considerably insofar as the preferred background and after a long lasting period of lais-
lifestyles of their inhabitants are concerned. But sez-faire politics, the public discussion of the con-
very recent tendencies on the real estate market sequences of gated communities today is much
of São Paulo show that specific apartment types more intensive in Brazilian cities. The national
(lofts, etc.) are catering to specific lifestyle groups, legislature, as well as city councils are keen to find
such as singles and young urban professionals. adequate and socially compatible solutions. Last,
This fact could indicate an increased lifestyle but not least, the informal sector appears as an
differentiation among the target groups. actor, which is in many cases, directly or indirectly,
The functioning of the gated community com- involved in the gated community complex. Con-
plex depends mainly on three major decision domı́nios fechados constitute an important labour
making bodies or actor groups, whose relations can market in many ways: during the phase of con-
be determined by a harmony or disharmony of struction, for house maids, gardeners and guards.
interests: the project developers, the target groups Thus while informal actors are most important for
and the public authorities (Fig. 3). The interests of the everyday functioning of gated communities,
project developers and the target groups are more they remain excluded from the gated communities’
or less clear. For the first group, it is mainly the worlds of living.
profit motive which determines their actions. To
meet the changing demands of their clients, they
have to include innovative features in their new São Paulo the proliferation of gated communities
projects, such as extra consumer products and in a fragmented metropolis
services. The real estate market in Brazilian cities
today is dominated by big construction firms, the The last part of this paper is dedicated to the
so-called incorporadoras, which specialize in this specific case of São Paulo, now with more than 18
market segment and render the whole project million inhabitants (including the metropolitan area)

123
GeoJournal (2006) 66:121–132 127

Fig. 3 Actor constellations around gated communities in Brazil

Latin America’s largest megacity. São Paulo can out of inner-city quarters. But during the last few
be viewed as the paradigm of urban fragmenta- years, even the traditional Central Business Dis-
tion in Latin America (Coy, 2001; Maricato, 1996; trict has undergone a gradual loss of its functions,
Santos, 1990), which, at least in a wealthy city and today the city centre, especially its public
context, is not only a city proliferated by gated spaces, is increasingly being occupied by informal
housing areas, but also by the spread of shopping activities. There is as well an increasing shift of
centres of international standing and globalized both residential and business functions to other
business headquarters in new citadel-like business parts of the city and surrounding areas (Frúgoli,
parks. Here we find, with the megaproject Al- 2000). This shift, which occurs in different periods
phaville, one of the biggest condomı́nios fecha- and in different ways, is illustrated in a simple
dos, not only in Brazil, but also in Latin America model (Fig. 4). Before the 1970s, the city centre
(Caldeira, 2000). maintained its dominant functions and its inner-
During the last few decades, São Paulo has city quarters remained prestigious residential
gone through far-reaching changes of its socio- areas. During the 1960s and 1970s, high value
economic structure and, consequently, its spatial residential areas shifted towards the so-called
organization. This is due to the aforementioned jardins, areas with a mixed structure of individual
processes of urban fragmentation. In demo- and apartment houses. In these neighbourhoods
graphic terms, the city of São Paulo, as the node arose new dynamic business and commercial axes
of an increasingly expanding metropolitan area, (Av. Paulista and Av. Faria Lima). These axes
has experienced an overall slowdown of its pop- were not only transformed into the new head-
ulation growth with absolute losses in inner-city quarters of the financial sector and major inter-
areas and continuing increases in the periphery. national and national firms, but also became the
In economic terms the Brazilian megacity is locations of the first large shopping centres.
characterized by an emerging de-industrialization During the 1980s and 1990s two further shifts in
and a shift towards service industries, especially residential and business functions occurred. On
business services. As a concomitant feature, the the one hand, they continued to move in a
residential functions were more and more pushed southwesterly direction within the city, resulting

123
128 GeoJournal (2006) 66:121–132

Fig. 4 A model of the temporal/spatial movement

in extremely segregated and strongly protected lines of the North American example. In 1974
residential areas as well as new mono-functional the company founded Alphaville, an edge-city-
business districts with highly sophisticated infra- like megaproject in the municipality of Barueri,
structures (Fix, 2001). On the other hand, they within the metropolitan area, 25 km from the
moved towards the outskirts of the city along the centre of São Paulo. Today, Alphaville is orga-
main arterial roads, where new options arose both nized into fourteen separate gated residential
for residential and business functions. This latter areas, which together have almost 35,000
tendency essentially altered the structures of ur- inhabitants. Apart from the residential areas,
ban centrality in the metropolitan area of São the city contains a very impressive service and
Paulo. Apart from the continuing shift to the commercial infrastructure as well as a huge
outskirts of the city, a very recent tendency has number of business activities, all within a highly
been observed since the mid-1990s. It is the return protected ambiance. The socio-cultural structure
of a part of the wealthy outmigrants into the city of the inhabitants is relatively homogeneous,
and into new smaller gated communities within which can be seen by several income indicators
existing residential areas, the so-called condo- as well as by their access to modern communi-
mı́nios horizontais. These form the most recent cation devices. Alphaville proved to be so par-
real estate products in São Paulo. Altogether, the adigmatic that its founders converted it into a
most important driving forces behind these new very successful marketing concept, offering
spatial shifts, which also coincide with a signifi- similar projects all over Brazil with always the
cant change in São Paulo’s urban structure, are same philosophy, housing areas, at least one
the profit interests of real estate brokers and shopping mall, localities for consumer and
construction companies (Fix, 2001). business services, and recreational facilities.
This recent development can be clearly Thus, at the moment, this firm accounts for 27
shown by examining Alphaville Urbanismo S.A., such projects, some concluded, others presently
today one of the most important firms involved for sale or projected (Fig. 5). Four different
in the proliferation of gated communities in tendencies can be distinguished in the marketing
Brazil (Fig. 5). This São Paulo based firm was strategies of the firm, all of which reveal the
the first to discover the promising market of very dynamic process of spread of the gated
gated housing projects and developed along the community concept in Brazil:

123
GeoJournal (2006) 66:121–132 129

Fig. 5 Expansion of a concept: real estate projects of Alphaville Urbanismo S.A. in 2003

1. There are several projects in the wider São towns can be considered wealthier munici-
Paulo area, which indicates that the demand palities in Brazil (Londrina, Maringá and
for bigger condomı́nios fechados on the out- others) or they passed through a boom-like
skirts of the megacity continues to be an development stage during the last years
interesting market segment. However, some (Cuiabá, Juiz de Fora). As yet, urban prob-
of these projects are strategically located at lems there are certainly not as serious as in
the periphery of specifically dynamic towns the megacities, but a certain imitation effect
like Campinas, Ribeirão Preto or São José should not be underestimated as a reason for
dos Campos. the increasing gated community market in
2. The firm, along with other projects, tries to these cities.
capture the promising market of the Brazilian 4. This same firm even implemented two pro-
regional metropoles in the South, the North- jects in a European country, Portugal, which
east and the Mid-West. In these regional can be interpreted as an indicator of the
metropoles, all cities with more than one international competitiveness of its gated city
million inhabitants, the above-mentioned concept.
problems of fragmentation and urban vio- 5. All in all, the case of Alphaville Urbanismo
lence are rampant, causing the same tenden- S.A. constitutes an impressive example of the
cies of self-segregation as in the megacities. influence which real estate firms exert today,
These conditions increase the demand for not only on specific market segments, but also
gated housing areas. on overall urban development tendencies and
3. Besides the regional metropoles, smaller re- urban lifestyle trends.
gional centres and mid-sized towns also take
part in the corporate strategies of the enter- As noted earlier, the so-called condomı́nios
prise. Some of these strategically selected horizontais represent the most recent trend in the

123
130 GeoJournal (2006) 66:121–132

real estate market in São Paulo. They correspond of urban development in Latin America can be
to smaller gated communities which are being summarized in a model that depicts three sce-
built in inner-city residential areas. São Paulo narios (Figure 6). Thus it is possible to integrate
today has approximately 400 such projects (Coy the specific question of the gated community
& Pöhler, 2002b). Since 1999 the total number of development into the more general framework of
condomı́nios horizontais has quadrupled. The urban fragmentation and urban development
reasons are manifold. In 1996 the municipality possibilities (Coy & Kraas, 2003).
decreed a modification of the local building code The first scenario is that of a fragmented city. In
which allowed the construction of smaller gated this scenario disintegration between the formal
housing areas in residential zones of the city. and the informal city deepens, the self-segregation
Consequently, real estate firms bought the of the wealthier urban dwellers increases and
remaining unoccupied areas or older houses with conflict potentials of varying scales and qualities
relatively big plots. They then tore down the are aggravated. Public authorities are more and
existing buildings and constructed immediately more powerless in view of increasing disparities
the new condomı́nios horizontais. In general, they and market controlled urban transformation
are constructed in a very compact way in rows of processes. This is the current situation in many
terraced houses with little gardens, sometimes Latin American cities.
even individual houses. Common security instal- In some cities, significant changes have oc-
lations and leisure facilities are provided by the curred in recent years. This situation is the con-
project developers. The appearance of the new tent of the second scenario, which could be
condomı́nios horizontais in inner-city areas coin- described as the correcting city. A very important
cides with the increasing violence problems prerequisite of these changes is reduced urban
within the greater gated communities on the city’s expansion, which also can be observed in an
outskirts. Apart from that, increasing traffic increasing number of Latin American cities. This
problems and long distances to work were more situation does not mean that the basic urban
and more perceived as serious disadvantages of disparities and conflicts disappear, but that local
gated communities in peripheral locations. This civil society and public authorities become more
reinforced a new ‘‘return to the city’’ movement, conscious of these urban problems and try to
which contributes to the booming dispersion of identify locally adapted solutions. Often, these
these condomı́nios horizontais. Today a diversi- attempts are, as a first priority, directed towards a
fied offer of condomı́nios horizontais concerning better integration of the informal city, for exam-
price, location, size of apartments or houses, and ple, the regulation of informal housing. But the
services meets the various demands. Neverthe- above-mentioned regulation of gated communi-
less, the appearance of this relatively new type of ties receives more attention as well. Another
gated community causes several new conflicts, priority is urban renewal, especially in inner-city
such as neighbourhood problems, because, in areas where there is the rehabilitation of public
many cases, the residents of the quarters where spaces. In many cases, such attempts are limited
these new condomı́nios emerge are not very to individual projects, frequently financed by
happy about the formation of these gated en- public-private partnerships, but they may, in
claves. They fear an increase in residential density successful cases, become exemplary best practices
and deplore the deterioration of their quarter’s (Coy, 2003).
environment. Finally, a third scenario can be delineated,
which is that of the re-integrating city. It is mainly
based on principles of solidarity and respect. It
emphasizes participatory strategies of enablement
Conclusion: scenarios of urban development and empowerment; it aims towards social inte-
gration and balance in the existing socio-spatial
To conclude, the existing structural character and disparities at different scales: on an inner-city
recent signs of transformation and future visions scale reducing the barriers between the formal

123
GeoJournal (2006) 66:121–132 131

Fig. 6 Scenarios of urban

development

and the informal city as well as between the city city of walls which is accompanied by a decline
and its immediate surroundings. This scenario of public space. Nevertheless, an urban future
depends principally on the realization of good with a better regulation of the city of walls and
urban governance. Besides there being only a an accompanying rehabilitation of public spaces
very few examples of this city (Coy & Zirkl, 2001) seems to be possible. But this vision is nothing
this scenario represents nothing more than a more than a first step towards the concept of an
utopian vision. But it is certainly important as a ecologically, economically and socially sustain-
guideline for a more just urban future. able urban development in Latin America. This
Regarding relationships between gated com- visionary sustainable city is only conceivable as
munities and urban fragmentation, the urban a more democratic city, that is, a city without
reality in Latin America today corresponds to a walls.

123
132 GeoJournal (2006) 66:121–132

References Coy, M., & Pöhler, M. (2002b). Condomı́nios fechados und

die Fragmentierung der brasilianischen Stadt. Typen –
Bähr, J., & Mertins, G. (1995). Die lateinamerikanische Akteure – Folgewirkungen. Geographica Helvetica,
Gross-Stadt. Verstädterungsprozesse und Sta- 57(4), 264–277.
dtstrukturen. Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchge- Coy, M., & Zirkl, F. (2001). Handlungsfelder und Lö-
sellschaft. sungsansätze nachhaltiger Stadtentwicklung in der
Blakely, E. J., & Snyder, M. G. (1997). Fortress America. Dritten Welt. Beispiele aus Brasilien. Petermanns
Gated communities in the United States. Washington, Geographische Mitteilungen, 145(5), 74–83.
DC: The Brookings Institution Press (Lincoln Insti- Fix, M. (2001). Parceiros da exclusão. Duas histórias da
tute of Land Policy). construção de uma ‘‘nova cidade’’. São Paulo: Boi-
Borsdorf, A., (2002). Vor verschlossenen Türen – wie neu tempo.
sind die Tore und Mauern in lateinamerikanischen Frúgoli Jr., H. (1995). São Paulo: Espaços públicos e in-
Städten? Eine Einführung. Geographica Helvetica, teração social. São Paulo: Marco Zero.
57(4), 238–244. Frúgoli Jr., H. (2000). Centralidade em São Paulo. Tra-
Caldeira, T. P. (2000). Cidade de muros. Crime, segregação jetórias, conflitos e negociações na metrópole. EdUSP,
e cidadania em São Paulo. São Paulo: EdUSP. São Paulo.
Cardia, N. (2000). Urban violence in São Paulo. Compar- Gilbert, A. (1998). The Latin American City. London:
ative Urban Studies Occasional Papers Series 33. Latin American Bureau.
Washington, DC: Woodrow Wilson International Kanitscheider, S. (2002). Condominios und fraccionam-
Center for Scholars. ientos cerrados in Mexiko-Stadt – sozialräumliche
Coy, M. (2001). São Paulo. Entwicklungstrends einer Segregation am Beispiel abgesperrter Wohnviertel.
brasilianischen Megastadt. Geographica Helvetica, Geographica Helvetica, 57(4), 253–263.
56(4), 274–288. Janoschka, M. (2002). Die Flucht vor Gewalt? Stereo-
Coy, M. (2002). Jüngere Tendenzen der Verstädterung in type und Motivationen beim Andrang auf barrios
Lateinamerika. In K. Bodemer, D. Nolte & H. privados in Buenos Aires. Geographica Helvetica,
Sangmeister (Eds.), Lateinamerika Jahrbuch 2002 57(4), 290–299.
(pp. 9–42). Frankfurt am Main. Maricato, E. (1996). Metrópole na periferia do capitalismo:
Coy, M. (2003). Tendências atuais de fragmentação nas illegalidade, desigualidade e violência. São Paulo:
cidades latino-americanas e desafios para a polı́tica Hucitec.
urbana e o planejamento urbano. Iberoamericana, Ribeiro, L.,C. (2000). O futuro das metrópoles: desiguald-
3(11), 111–128. ades e governabilidade. Rio de Janeiro: Renan.
Coy, M., & Kraas, F. (2003). Probleme der Urbanisierung Santos, M. (1990). Metrópole corporativa fragmentada.
in den Entwicklungsländern. Petermanns Geographi- O caso de São Paulo. São Paulo: Nobel.
sche Mitteilungen, 147(1), 32–41.
Coy, M., & Pöhler, M. (2002a). Gated communities in
Latin American megacities: Case studies in Brazil and
Argentina. Environment and Planning B: Planning
and Design, 29, 355–370.

123