Hyper-Rich and Hyper-Luxury in China： The Case of the Most Expensive Gated Communities

Since 2000, we have published fifteen studies on the Chinese upscale gated communities （in Chinese ＂haohua bieshu qu＂ or ＂shehua bieshu qu＂）. This research was based on various field surveys around big or medium cities like Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, or Suzhou, and a theoretical framework. It also led us to carry out a statistical approach by elaborating a complete database on all the China＇s high-end gated communities. The main aim of the current article is to focus the analysis on the China＇s most luxurious zones of villas （e.g., Longhu Yiheyuan villas in Beijing, Ziyuan villas in Shanghai... ）. Indirectly, it appears an efficient way to get information on the still mysterious world of the China＇s very very rich people, their imaginary, their values, and their dreams. This analysis will be developed through two complementary approaches and parts. Firstly, we will discuss the general notion of luxury in China; we also will highlight the specific features of hyper-rich and hyper-luxury in China. It will describe the social stratification of the rich, their spatial distribution and patterns of consumption. In a more holistic approach, the analysis will put into perspective the special status of the rich in a socialist market economy and their very ambivalent image in the Chinese society. Secondly, it will focus on the notion of ＂residential hyper-luxury＂. Through field surveys, the analysis will compare the China＇s most expensive gated communities and elaborate a typology of hyper-luxurious gated communities by underlining their uniqueness and extreme nature.

Opening up Gated Communities to Public Road System and Urban Traffic Microcirculation: A Case Study of Donghu District in Nanchang

In recent years, driven by the booming housing market with high supply and demand, China has witnessed an unprecedented increase in residential areas in fast speed. However, most of the newly established communities have not yet get rid of the self-supporting and self-sufficient mode of the farming culture. Currently, gated communities are characterized by closure, large population, large area, single function, little contact, etc., decreasing the urban road network density and reachability. And the internal travel is mainly dependent on the main roads through a city, which interferes with urban roads and increases the traffic pressure on the surrounding road network. Therefore, this paper took the Donghu District in Nanchang as an example to study opening gated communities to public, so as to promote the urban traffic microcirculation and increase the density and reachability of the regional road network, thereby sharing the traffic pressure for the main roads and strengthening the neighborhood contact.

Particularities and Interpretations of Gated Communities in China

Most scholars have recognized gated community as a new kind of negative and unacceptable defensive residential pattern in the context of globalization and neoliberal ideologies. However, widely different from the West, China's gated communities are mainly promoted by China's endogenous culture and social restructuring, which has also aggravated urban problems in recent years, such as spatial privatization, social segregation, residential discrimination, and traffic inaccessibility. According to some surveys and local experiences in China, the government reform of opening gated communities has actually failed since 2005. The objectives of this research therefore are to explain the paradox between maintaining culture and opposing policies, and the disputes between government, developers, residents, and experts relating to gated communities in China. By analyzing its evolution, characteristics, mechanism, and trend, the research finds that gating is represented as distinct symbols for various groups carrying different targets and values, and the solution to eliminate its negative influences is not to find an alternative residential pattern, but to make and implement new estate policies and design specifications.

Security Aspects of Gated Community Housing and the Concept of Safe Townships

Crime is often associated with urban development as urban areas tend to be at greater risk security-wise as compared with other areas. This is the reality of an increasing population crowding into the cities, and fomenting crime in the process. The physical design of the environment also contributes to the escalating crime rate, resulting in fear and anxiety among the residents. The ＂Safe Township＂ concept is an approach to resolving the issue of security in urban areas. It is an agenda within the concept of liveable cities that focuses principally on the problems of urban security. The development of properties within the concept of Gated Community housing is considered a step towards protecting residents in a residential area. The development of fenced Gated Community housing equipped with full-time security facilities is among the strategies in implementing the concept of the Safe Township. This paper discusses the security features in the Gated Community housing development as measures to combat crime in line with the implementation of the Safe Township concept. This study adopts an investigative methodology that combines theory with case studies. The compilation of data was made through literature search, interviews with representatives from the Town Planning Department and data were also collected through observations of Gated Community housing schemes in Johor Bahru.

Gentrification and Residential Differentiation in Nanjing,China

The institutional environment in China has quite evidently changed during modern socio-economic transitions.Driven both by local government and by marketing force,urban social space was redistributed after the reform of urban land and real estate policies.Urban renewal makes for wide differential rent and therefore gentrification is occurring in China.This paper analyzes the background and institutional environment of gentrification in China,and further discusses the process,characteristics and evolutionary mechanisms in the case of Nanjing,through investigation of the attributes of 1075 residential communities built during the 1998-2008 at a macro level,and interviewing the residents and analyzing questionnaires in 6 different and typical communities at a micro level.As a socio-spatial course of two-way interaction,gentrification is divided into 3 stages of incubation,occurrence and fast development,according to the time of landmark events and policy reform on the leasehold of land in Nanjing during socio-economic transition.In terms of the socio-spatial characteristics of gentrification in Nanjing,the gentrification process under the trajectory of urban renewal makes urban social space present a new circle-layer structure;the rise of quite a number of gated communities results in the fragmentation of social space and privatization of public space;the management mode of modern communities and the change of life style have aggravated the indifference of neighborhood relationship of gentrified communities.Based on the empirical evidence of this study,this paper indicates that gentrification is quite different between China and western countries with respect to spatio-temporal order,dominant forces,paths of realization and spatial expression,and it further reveals the dynamic mechanism of gentrification developing in China at the present stage.