The aim of this article is to examine the reasons behind the growing popularity of gated communities in Poland by applying cultural, institutional and economic explanations in the Polish context. The empirical material consists of interviews, newspaper articles, legal acts concerning housing, official documents and a questionnaire. The divide between the public and private spheres is central to the explanatory model, and it is argued that it is this that has played a central role in the emergence and popularity of gated forms of housing in Poland. The introduction of a market economy and subsequent socio-economic inequalities has resulted in specific forms of individual strategies regarding housing preferences. It is suggested here that this specific form of individualism, connected with institutional shortcomings, cultural legacies and the present housing market, is reflected in the enclosed and private living spaces of today's Poles.

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