PARTITIONED LANDSCAPES: THE GATED COMMUNITY INTERFACE AS AN EDIFICE FOR SOCIAL AND SPATIAL INTERCHANGE by ALLISON ROSE DUBLINSKI (Under the Direction of Katherine Melcher) ABSTRACT Gated communities consume the contemporary, American landscape physically, economically, and socially. Their development stems from historical beginnings of how to delineate space through design. Current literature debates their prominence as an outcome of people’s perceptions, driven by sense of community and fear. Using survey and observational methodologies, this thesis unveils the importance and intricacy of place identification in gated neighborhood entries and its ramifications on the greater public realm. Results suggest the importance of entryway design to these communities, as it influences perceptions of community and fear. This thesis serves as awareness to the trend of private community development practice-- opening a dialogue between planners, landscape architects, developers, and other stakeholders within the design field to better serve the needs of the public. Using the gated community as a medium for theory and analysis, the author addresses how landscape thresholds influence social interactions. INDEX WORDS: Gated Community, Entryways, Neighborhood Design, Privatization, Community Theory, Landscape Architecture PARTITIONED LANDSCAPES: THE GATED COMMUNITY INTERFACE AS AN EDIFICE FOR SOCIAL AND SPATIAL INTERCHANGE by ALLISON ROSE DUBLINSKI B.S., Georgia Institute of Technology, 2006 A Thesis Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of The University of Georgia in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree MASTER OF LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE ATHENS, GEORGIA 2012 © 2012 Allison Rose Dublinski All Rights Reserved PARTITONED LANDASCAPES: THE GATED COMMUNITY INTERFACE AS AN EDIFICE FOR SOCIAL AND SPATIAL INTERCHANGE by ALLISON ROSE DUBLINSKI Major Professor: Katherine Melcher Committee: Georgia Harrison Lara Mathes Mike Hamby Electronic Version Approved: Maureen Grasso Dean of the Graduate School The University of Georgia May 2012 DEDICATION To my family. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Foremost, special thanks to my advisor Katherine Melcher for all of her guidance. I would like to thank the additional members of the thesis committee for their comments and valued viewpoints. v TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .................................................................................................v LIST OF FIGURES ......................................................................................................... viii CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................1 Background ..................................................................................................2 Chapter Layout.............................................................................................3 Definitions and Delimitations ......................................................................4 Fundamental Dilemma .................................................................................5 Role of Design .............................................................................................6 2 HISTORICAL REVIEW ...................................................................................8 Walling Up-- A Morphology .......................................................................8 The Evolution towards Gated Communities ..............................................12 Prior Research and Current Literature .......................................................17 3 THEORETICAL OVERLAYS ........................................................................24 Ideas of Community ...................................................................................24 Perceptions of Fear ....................................................................................35 4 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY .....................................................................46 Research Setting.........................................................................................46 Context .......................................................................................................48 vi Entrances ...................................................................................................52 Research Methodology-- Questionnaire ....................................................62 Results-- Questionnaire ..............................................................................64 Research Methodology—Behavior Mapping ............................................68 Results—Behavior Mapping ......................................................................70 Summary ....................................................................................................75 5 DISCUSSION ..................................................................................................77 Discussion ..................................................................................................77 Conclusion .................................................................................................85 REFERENCES ..................................................................................................................88 APPENDICES A QUESTIONNAIRE .........................................................................................91 B QUESTIONNAIRE RESULTS .......................................................................96 vii LIST OF FIGURES Page Figure 2-1: Assyrian Citadel of Sargon II ............................................................................9 Figure 2-2: Lion Gate and Ishtar Gate ...............................................................................10 Figure 2-3: Paris Map of Succession of City Walls ...........................................................11 Figure 2-4: Tuxedo Park Gatehouse and St. Louis Gated Private Street ...........................13 Figure 2-5: Increase in Gated Communities ......................................................................15 Figure 2-6: Gated Community Concentrations ..................................................................16 Figure 3-1: Elements of Community .................................................................................27 Figure 3-2: Gated Community Typology ..........................................................................32 Figure 3-3: Value Rankings in Gated Community Type ...................................................33 Figure 3-4: Gated Community Features ............................................................................34 Figure 4-1: Study Area Map ..............................................................................................49 Figure 4-2: Study Area The Village & Jennings Mill CC .................................................50 Figure 4-3: Property Overview .........................................................................................51 Figure 4-4: Entrance Points ...............................................................................................53 Figure 4-5: The Village Parcel Map ..................................................................................53 Figure 4-6: Jennings Mill Parcel Map ...............................................................................54 Figure 4-7: Primary Gated Access The Village .................................................................55 Figure 4-8: The Village Gated Entry Design Elements .....................................................55 viii Figure 4-9: The Village Gated Entry Design Elements .....................................................56 Figure 4-10: The Village Secondary Entry ........................................................................57 Figure 4-11: Jennings Mill CC West Entry .......................................................................58 Figure 4-12: Jennings Mill CC West Entry Design Elements ...........................................59 Figure 4-13: Jennings Mill CC East Entry .........................................................................60 Figure 4-14: Jennings Mill CC East Entry Design Elements ............................................60 Figure 4-15: Jennings Mill CC Internal Entries .................................................................61 Figure 4-16: County Population .........................................................................................62 Figure 4-17: Survey Question Results ...............................................................................65 Figure 4-18: Survey Question Results ...............................................................................68 Figure 4-19: Behavior Map Data Collection ....................................................................70 Figure 4-20: Vehicular Paths Data Chart ...........................................................................70 Figure 4-21: Vehicular Count Matrix ................................................................................72 Figure 4-22: Traffic Observation .......................................................................................72 Figure 4-23: Daily Average Pedestrian Origin ..................................................................73 Figure 4-24: Daily Average Pedestrian Count ...................................................................74 Figure 4-25: Pedestrian Paths ............................................................................................74 Figure 4-26: Pedestrian