关键词: 门禁社区, 郊区化, 社会隔离, 广州

Abstract: The rise of gated communities has become a global phenomenon with the appearance both in developed countries such as North American and European countries and in Asia, Latin America, South America, and South Africa. Accordingly, discussion about this type of private communities has been largely inspired by observations in various cities worldwide. Most of the insights towards gated communities are negative, regarding them as urban enclaves and relating this spatial fragmentation to residential segregation and social exclusion. However, due to different social and cultural backgrounds, the implications and consequences of gated communities in different places may not be exhibited in the same way. Local experience seems to be of great significance to the debate on the social effects of gated communities. The emergence of gated communities in China is a relatively nascent urban phenomenon even though enclosed housing compounds have cultural roots in China's history. Against the context of urban sprawl, gated communities invade into rural areas of China, co-standing to mix with traditional villages. Through a case study of a neighborhood named Lijiang Garden in the suburban Panyu District in Guangzhou, this paper explores the relationship between residents of gated communities and outsiders, addressing the material connections of gated community in suburban area of China to the outside world, conceptions and attitudes of residents living in both sides towards each other, exploring social contacts between them, in order to examine the impacts of gated communities on local areas. The empirical study revealed that the physical existence of wall does not mean gated community which can be seen as enclave in China since the functional connections and social contacts can be observed between gated community and its poorer neighborhood. Furthermore, the perceptions and attitudes towards each other are not negative, especially the outsiders of gated communities in China have not, psychologically, been segregated by the new walls, so that little negative impacts of gated communities are perceived in the suburban districts of urban China. Thought sharing certain similarities, the findings in China challenge the prevalent view of gated communities worldwide. It is demonstrated that gated communities should be investigated by considering specific local economic, cultural and political contexts.

Key words: gated communities, segregation, Guangzhou, China