New Landscapes : gated housing estates in the Lisbon Metropolitan Area

In this preliminary chapter, we analyse the two dimen¬ sions we believe hold greatest relevance to the gated housing estate phenomenon in general and which contribute most to studying its social production. Firstly, we interpret the phenomenon as a specific socio-spatial form with a defined physical morphology and with specific social characteristics, causes and possible effects. Secondly, we stress the fact that gated housing estates are generally a real estate product, a commod¬ ity and the direct outcome of the real estate market structure and its dynamics. Even if there is documen¬ tation of gated housing estates not built by developers, but rather resulting from the outcome of collective action by residents, as is the case of «security zone» gated communities referred to by Blakely & Snyder (1997) for the USA or by Carvalho (2001) for S. Paulo, Brazil, it should be noted that these cases seem to be less frequent in Portugal (no significant incidence has been identified), and to have very different social characteristics and significance. Besides other aspects, these «socially emerging» gated housing estates have poor and lower class inhabitants, and the discussions of governance and Community always present on the gated housing estate research agenda surely cannot be posed in the same way for residential areas already existing as for those built from Scratch.