Is it safer behind the gates? Crime and gated communities in South Africa

Abstract

Gated communities have long been seen as a rational response to rising crime levels, yet very little is known about the extent to which residing in a gated community actually reduces an individuals" risk of criminal victimisation. In this study we use location quotients tocompare the extent of burglary in gated communities with burglary across the entire city of Tshwane, South Africa as well as compare burglary in gated communities with burglary occurring within a series of buffer intervals immediately surrounding these communities. Finally, we identify what physical characteristics of gated communities differentiate between high and low burglary in these enclaves. Prior to expectations we found that gated communities (and theirimmediate surrounding areas) are associated with increased levels of burglary. There are 2 however, a number ofphysical characteristics of gated communities which are associated with much lower burglary levels.The implications of our work from a crime prevention and development planning perspective are discussed.

The concentration of urban crime in space by race: evidence from South Africa

“…The geographical focus area of this study, Tshwane 2 , has remained highly segregated (see Figure 1) and in some regions of the city segregation has in fact increased over the past twenty years (Hamman & Horn, 2015). This is mainly a result of socio-economic circumstances which have limited the ability of particularly the Black African population to move into more affluent former Whites-only neighborhoods (see Hamann & Horn, 2015) and the retreat of particularly the White population into gated neighborhoods (Breetzke, Landman & Cohn, 2014). The city of Tshwane is the capital city of South Africa and is located in the central Gauteng province.…”

Are the walls giving way to fences? Is racial integration within Kwadukuza municipality leading to income-based class segregation?

“…Since 1994, South Africa has seen a steady increase in the number of gated communities developed in previously exclusive white areas. These areas are the choice of residence for the new middle and upper classes that are moving to gated communities with the control of crime being punted as the major reason thereof (Ballard and Jones, 2011;Breetzke, Landman and Cohn, 2014).…”

“…However, another function of these eco-security estates and gated communities is to create social exclusion by preventing certain people from gaining access thereto (Roitman et al, 2010, Ballard andJones, 2011;Breetzke et al, 2014). With their superior purchasing power, elite Whites and elite members of other racial groups are able to invest in these areas, ensuring a solely upper class social grouping of like individuals in the area.…”

A spatial analysis of gating in Bloemfontein, South Africa

“…The paper is framed by the observation that with the exception of Goldhaber and Donaldson (2012), as well as Spocter (2013), the current South African gated developments discourse has for the most part mainly been concerned with the large metropolitan regions, with Gauteng a particularly strong locational focus (Landman, 2004;Breetzke et al, 2014). This investigation redirects the analytic gaze to a secondary city, and addresses an investigatory oversight in current knowledge pertaining to gated development in South Africa.…”