In the middle of nowhere: Gated neighbourhoods in Vilnius region as a new lifestyle?

Abstract

This article provides an overview about the new tendencies on the Lithuanian housing market shedding light on the development of the gated and guarded neighbourhoods (GGNs). Field surveys and interviews with developers, residents as well as local planning authorities in Vilnius and its surroundings provide the basis of discussion about the "fencing phenomenon". Can this phenomenon be explained by such factors like socio-economic segregation in the city, extensive marketing or a specifi c niche on the market? The research results show that gated neighbourhoods are established not only because of the need to prevent residents from violence or to show their social status but also to protect their lives from the chaotic and socially unstable outside world where the gates have more symbolic meanings.

Urban Studies in Lithuania: What They Display and Conceal about Vilnius

“…Vienas tokių pavyzdžių yra Lietuvos socialinių geografų pastangos aprašyti gyvenimo uždarose ir saugomose vietovėse patirtis (Krupickaitė ir kt. 2011;Krupickaitė et al 2014;PociūtėSereikienė ir Krupickaitė 2016). Kitaip nei anksčiau aprašytuose socialinių geografų darbuose, čia neapsiribojama vien tik paprastu miesto vietovių žemėlapiavimu, kal bama apie pasirinkimo gyventi tokiuose rajonuose motyvaciją, pateikiami gyvenimo tokiuose būstuose patirties vertinimai.…”

Perspectives of gated communities’ socio-spatial integration: the case of post-socialist Lithuania

“…Part of this research was focused on GCs, which we distinguish as a residential or mixed-use house group with the following characteristics: 1) the land is fully fenced and the entrance is limited to cars and pedestrians and 2) the territory is under video surveillance or protected by security staff. Such settlements are privately managed and their residents are usually bound by contracts and commitments (Burneika et al, 2017;Krupickaitė et al, 2014;Pociūtė-Sereikienė, Krupickaitė, 2016).…”

“…Most of new settlements built in suburbs are like welfare islands, in which the communities are quite active. A case study of the 'Neries kilpos' GC in a suburb of Vilnius (Krupickaitė et al, 2014) showed that the socio-demographic structure of it was quite homogeneous. The majority of the residents belong to the upper-middle class, most of them have a university degree, are employed or free-standing high-quality specialists, businessmen, medical doctors, etc.…”