Road – gate – enclosure: elite securityscapes in London and Mexico City

Abstract

The demand for security by urban elites has driven the subtle transformation of their neighbourhoodsand the wider citywith a more closed and fragmented public realm, 'anti-disorder' design strategies and increasing control. This article explores signature elements of securityscapes in affluent domains of Mexico City and London, two very different cities yet with similarly fragmenting and inhibiting modes of urban design. Extensive immersion, systematic observation and visual matrixes are used to counterpose key design elements and atmospheric qualities of the securityscape: securitisation, privacy and fortification, transforming the 'path-portal-place' elements of the city into a logic around 'road-gate-enclosure'.

Reconfigured securityscapes in Louis Trichardt: Possibilities, limitations, and contradictions

“…matters. Potential action and measures that have been implemented to date include (re)solving improvements including crime prevention through environmental design, neighborhood design, surveillance, homeownership potential development; social interaction, and improvement in the concepts of territoriality, surveillance, and integrated policing and neighborhood watchdog cooperation, collaboration, and partnership (Atkinson and Flint, 2004;Atkinson and Ho, 2020;Brower, 2020;Makinde, 2020;Morales et al, 2021). However, the challenge with current efforts and attempts is that instead of facilitating social cohesion and integration of communities and societies, such privatization and securitization of public spaces through strong private, social, and community groups/associations has tended to internalize and domesticate new forms of "apartheid, " "segregation and fragmentation."…”

“…One response to this phenomenon has been the emergence and rise of "gated communities" and "enclosed neighborhood" as a mechanism to prevent and control crime, violence, and incivility (Landman, 2000;Landman and Koen, 2003;Lemanski, 2006;Dlodlo et al, 2015;Wang et al, 2016Wang et al, , 2019Breetzke, 2018;Pridmore et al, 2019). These responses are partly explained by inadequate state and safety systems in place meant to protect property and citizens (Atkinson and Flint, 2004;Blandy, 2018;Branic and Kubrin, 2018;Atkinson and Ho, 2020;Ehwi, 2021;Morales et al, 2021). In these neighborhoods and precincts, the urban residents redefine urban spatial structure from territorial inclusion to controlled territories of exclusion, segregation, fragmentation, and gentrification.…”

The enclaved body: Crises of personhood and the embodied geographies of urban gating

“…Less recognized is her insight into the wider crisis of urban citizenship the enclave inaugurated, or the emergence of a mistrust of the urban collective as a viable social form at the precise moment when the nation was democratizing. This mistrust of the urban collective reshapes embodied experiences of the city, as Morales et al, (2022) argue, thanks to the frequent use of privatized transportation and enclosed, inter-zone walkways, inviting the elite to enjoy not just enclaved residential communities but also enclaved mobility.…”

Elite capture and urban geography: Analyzing geographies of privilege

“…We are careful not to be overly prescriptive in our definitions, in line with many others working on the geographies of elites (see especially Davis and Williams (2017); Hay (2013), Morales, et al, (2022, , and events and working papers shared by the Elite Studies Working Group at https://elitestudiesworkinggroup. wordpress.com/).…”

“…We are careful not to be overly prescriptive in our definitions, in line with many others working on the geographies of elites (see especially Davis and Williams (2017); Hay (2013), Morales, et al, (2022), Van Heur & Bassens (2019), and events and working papers shared by the Elite Studies Working Group at https://elitestudiesworkinggroup.wordpress.com/). In general, most definitions of “elite” work from the same Bourdieusian frameworks used to define class in the social sciences: elites are those who possess very high levels of economic, social, and/or cultural capital, and who engage in forms of class reproduction that transmit these privileges across generations (e.g., patronage networks, intra-class marriages, attendance at elite educational institutions, membership in elite social institutions).…”