Deserted Streets in a Jammed Town: The Gated Community in Chinese Cities and Its Solution

Abstract

Since the 1978 economic reform, more and more residential areas in Chinese cities have walled themselves away from their surroundings in order to improve security. What do these gated communities look like as compared to their US counterparts? What impact does this new development have, especially on urban life in high-density Chinese cities? How do cities in a developing, socialist country pick up so quickly a capitalist real-estate pattern started in the US just a few decades ago? This paper, the first on the topic, presents a preliminary investigation of these issues and proposes alternative design solutions to address the problems.