CHANGE led to a process of rapid rewriting of the urban form. The development of new urban substance goes beyond the traditional forms and concepts of the city. The transformation takes place on every level and on every scale, from territorial to architectural. City substance is most likely produced by individual initiatives rather than by any coherent system of planning. Urban territories became pixelized fields affected by private ownership. In the context of the contemporary circumstances of inequality of the socio-spatial structure, the housing sector has been subject to a significant deregulation where a dwelling has become a costly economic commodity. Residential real estate market has become considerably active following the increased construction of new housing. Domination of the private, developer-built housing supply followed by the privatization of the construction sector has contributed to the dramatic reorganization of the housing industry. Parallel to that, alternative strategies of housing supply emerge being particularly interesting because they produce diversity of experiences with unique urban outcomes that could be potentially disastrous consequence for the future of the city. Gated community as a model of residential development is such a case, reflecting the global trend of usurpation of territory towards privatization of urban services, increasing fragmentation, social polarization, and reduced solidarity with the rest of urban society. Masked behind the need for security, the walled settlement is actually a type of physical and social enclave that has negative effect on the development of urban communities and the overall social capital. Obviously, it is only a question of prestige, status and lifestyle that plays a major role in ones decision to live in this kind of settlement rather than the thought that socio-economic supremacy in the time of absolute social uncertainty needs walls as protection. To conclude, the physical isolation from the city contradicts the urban freedom and consequently the citizenship understood as a socially essential form of urbanity. And although it probably succeeds in making individuals and families feel safer and privileged, gated community is an obvious example of the devastating social forces of fragmentation that emerged in the post-socialist transition, established along the lines of income, ethnicity, and politics. As Jane Jacobs concluded, “It’s a gang way of looking at life, the institutionalization of turf. And if it goes on indefinitely, and gets intensified, it practically means the end of civilization.” 3
3 Dillon, D. 1994, Fortress America, Planning Magazine, American Planning Association
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Housing Against Citizenship. Jovan Ivanovski and Ana Ivanovska