City Marketing and Gated Communities: a Case Study of Guaynabo, Puerto Rico
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University of Massachusetts Amherst ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst Open Access Dissertations 9-2009 City Marketing and Gated Communities: A Case Study of Guaynabo, Puerto Rico Carlos A. Suarez-Carrasquillo University of Massachusetts Amherst, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.umass.edu/open_access_dissertations Part of the Political Science Commons Recommended Citation Suarez-Carrasquillo, Carlos A., "City Marketing and Gated Communities: A Case Study of Guaynabo, Puerto Rico" (2009). Open Access Dissertations. 139. https://scholarworks.umass.edu/open_access_dissertations/139 This Open Access Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst. It has been accepted for inclusion in Open Access Dissertations by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst. For more information, please contact [email protected]. CITY MARKETING AND GATED COMMUNITIES: A CASE STUDY OF GUAYNABO, PUERTO RICO A Dissertation Presented by CARLOS A. SUÁREZ-CARRASQUILLO Submitted to the Graduate School of the University of Massachusetts Amherst in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY September 2009 Department of Political Science © Copyright by Carlos A. Suárez-Carrasquillo 2009 All Rights Reserved CITY MARKETING AND GATED COMMUNITIES: A CASE STUDY OF GUAYNABO, PUERTO RICO A Dissertation Presented by CARLOS A. SUÁREZ-CARRASQUILLO Approved as to style and content by: _______________________________ John Brigham, Chair _______________________________ Laura Jensen, Member _______________________________ Ellen Pader, Member _______________________________ John A. Hird, Department Head Department of Political Science DEDICATION To Milagros Carrasquillo Bonilla (mi madre) and Ángel Luis Suárez Martínez (mi padre) for nourishing my dreams. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This arduous process has required a lot of patience and considerable aguante. I have had the privilege of being nurtured and supported from a variety of disparate sources and people. I would like to first recognize my committee for pushing me to the limit, making sure that I would render the best possible work. To John Brigham for making sure that this process would honor the academic sacrifice and personal dedication that it endured. The process was characterized by great communication and interaction, providing the essential knowledge that led to making this a better dissertation. To Laura Jensen for nurturing my interest on gated communities, your feedback and conversations at your office only enhanced and provoked my understanding that would lead to this dissertation. Ellen Pader encouraged me to present my local knowledge on this case study as a guaynabeño. Also to Nick Xenos; for being a significant force in fine tuning the development of this dissertation. To my mother Milagros Carrasquillo Bonilla, and to my father Ángel L. Suárez Martínez for your patience. Also for the financial support offered throughout this endeavor which saw endless deadlines. To my brother Ángel L. Suárez Carrasquillo, your silence was very appreciated amidst the noise. ¡Gracias Totales! To Luis Andrés Suárez Rodríguez, and Valeria Suárez Rodríguez for giving me a reason to seriously consider the future. To the Municipio de Guaynabo, including those who were interviewed, Carlos Santos, and Asunción Castro de López (Doña Suncha). Also to the staff at the Colección de Documentos y Mapas de la Biblioteca José M. Lázaro at the Universidad de Puerto Rico-Río Piedras; and the Centro de Estudios Electorales at the Comisión Estatal de Elecciones de Puerto Rico. To Héctor L. Rivera Reyes and the staff at the División de Planificación Económica at the Junta de Planificación. v To all of those who supported me during my long stay at UMass, Gloria and “Cuco” Guevara, Roberto Alejandro, Gladys Rodríguez, Johanna Koeppen, Julio Herrera, Paul Vasconcellos, Gloria Bernabé Ramos and the staff at the Dean of Students Office. Lena Tan, thanks for overseeing my project from its inceptions, your patience and honest words made me a more demanding person. George Roberson, you were able to provide me with significant encouragement and practical advice to guide me through this process. Gabriel De La Luz for helping me in refining this project, and making sure that I would “spell it out”. Lisa S. Scott, you were able to bring breezes of optimism and encouragement at the most critical juncture. To friends and colleagues, Manuel Almeida Rodríguez, Jon Zibell, Gisela Carbonell Coll, Antonio Vázquez-Arroyo, and Charles Venator Santiago. Also to the friends who grounded this process, José Santiago. I have only words of gratitude; you were able to master the art of encouraging words and great listening. Lisa Giddens thanks for your unwavering support, and offering your place when needed. To Sabrina Chong who was crucial in proofreading, friendship, and support. Rebecca Rivera was essential in offering concrete insight in terms of how to understand this dynamic. Ivelisse Rivera-Bonilla provided access to her work and understanding of gated communities in Puerto Rico. To Pedro A. Torres Carrasquillo, who led the way to a path that only a few in the family have traveled. To the multitude of support that includes Ciara Medina Ortega, Sara Ortega, Betsy Dickinson, and Jorge A. Torres Carrasquillo. And finally to my daily encounters on Road 837, they offered the best laboratory and served as a platform to many of the inquiries that decades later led to this dissertation. The limitations and shortcomings of this dissertation are all mine. vi ABSTRACT CITY MARKETING AND GATED COMMUNITIES: A CASE STUDY OF GUAYNABO, PUERTO RICO SEPTEMBER 2009 CARLOS A. SUÁREZ-CARRASQUILLO, B.A., UNIVERSIDAD DE PUERTO RICO RÍO PIEDRAS M.A., UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST Ph.D., UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST Directed by: Professor John Brigham This dissertation focuses on the dynamics of gated communities with attention to the municipality of Guaynabo, Puerto Rico. Despite the growing numbers of gated communities worldwide, research on this matter remains scarce. I argue that a “gated community consensus” has emerged in Puerto Rico. The hypothesis is that in Guaynabo, the municipality facilitates the emergence of gated communities in order to change the face of the city and reap an economic windfall. Interviews demonstrate the municipality’s commitment to facilitating the construction of new communities and lending support to older communities. Most of these gated communities respond to high end income projects, thus altering the profile of Guaynabo’s residents. This has all led to the development of Guaynabo as a commodity, Guaynabo City, suitable to contractors, the municipality, and interested buyers. The gates confer prestige in the municipality. Keywords: Puerto Rico, gated communities, city marketing, urban policy vii TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS…...…………………………..…………………………………..v ABSTRACT………………….………………………………………………….…………..vii LIST OF TABLES………………..…………………………………………………………..ix CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION: ROAD 837……………...…………………………………….…..…...1 II. ASSESING DEFINITIONS, TYPOLOGIES, AND EXPERIENCES……..………....….15 III. POLITICAL CONSIDERATIONS AND CITY MARKETING……………..........…....47 IV. PUERTO RICO’S URBANIZATION PROCESS……………..…………….….………69 V. URBANIZACIONES, CONTROLES DE ACCESO IN PUERTO RICO……….……..….95 VI. UNDERSTANDING GUAYNABO…………………..………………..………..….....109 VII. MUNICIPAL POLITICAL STRUCTURE AND CIVIL SERVANTS………...…......129 VIII. GROUNDING THE EXPERIENCE FOR CITY MARKETING …...........................176 IX. CONTRIBUTIONS AND THE FUTURE OF GATED COMMUNITIES…………....215 APPENDICES A. MAP OF GUAYNABO’S BARRIOS……………………………………………..……226 B. CITY FLOWCHART………………..………………………………………………......227 C. ESTABLISHING CITY LIMITS……………...………………………………………...228 BIBLIOGRAPHY………….………………………………………………………….........231 viii LIST OF TABLES Table Page 1. Municipal Elections in Guaynabo…………………………………………………...116 2. Total value of Construction Activity in Puerto Rico (in millions of dollars)……......194 3. Private Housing Industry in Puerto Rico…………………………………………….195 4. Number of Permits and Total Value for Guaynabo………………………………….197 5. Number of Units Built and Value for Puerto Rico…………………………………..199 6. Number and Total Value of Private and Public housing in Guaynabo………………201 7. Developments in Guaynabo for 2000……………………………………………….202 8. Developments in Guaynabo for 2001……………………………………………….203 9. Developments in Guaynabo for 2002……………………………………………….205 10. Developments in Guaynabo for 2003…………………………………………...…206 11. Developments in Guaynabo for 2004………………………………………...……208 12. Developments in Guaynabo for 2006………………………………………….…. 209 ix CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION: ROAD 837 A recurring experience during my childhood was to transit Road 837 on our way out of our neighborhood of Sierra Berdecía, located in Barrio Santa Rosa Uno, Guaynabo. As part of this journey during the 1980’s I would encounter new neighborhoods that had a new characteristic, they featured a single gated entrance. During the 1990’s I noticed how older communities (i.e. built before the mid 1980’s) started to gate all of their entrances. My personal experience over the past twenty years reflects the significant increase in the number of gated communities in Puerto Rico. These communities are diverse in terms of design and layout, featuring a variety of security mechanisms and a series of amenities for its residents. The case study for this project is Guaynabo, Puerto Rico, located in