A false sense of security?

But they have also attracted criticism from some who feel that walls and fences put more than just a physical barrier between people.

Secured residential estates have been part of urban landscapes around the world for many years now, but they continue to evoke strong emotions. Over eight million US residents live in gated communities, and such estates are becoming more popular in South America and the Middle East. In Poland, gated communities are often seen as enclaves for the middle and upper classes, which separate them from the rest of society.

Recently Warsaw's gated communities came into the spotlight when a group of protesters - so-called alter-globalists - locked the gates of a few such developments from the outside, preventing inhabitants from leaving the estates. The Holland Park Apartments (HPA) complex, near Warsaw's Plac Trzech Krzyży, was one of the targets.

"I don't have anything against closed staircases or yards. But you cannot fence entire communities - gates and fences destroy relations between people," a member of the alter-globalist group told the Gazeta Wyborcza newspaper.

The group's manifesto was printed on a poster that could be seen around their target area. "It is becoming hard to walk, dodging between cars and fences. Wherever you look there are cars parked behind fences, guard houses, fences and 'camps' to live in. To start with they only fenced new developments, now they are fencing off the old ones too. In the end all we will see will be roads lined with wire."

Open access

"The alter-globalists' decision to target the inhabitants of Holland Park Apartments was misguided, because the development does not possess walls or fences that separate us from the city," said Maria Makal-Młynarska from Keen Property Partners, the company managing HPA. "Holland apartments cannot be described as a gated community as the recent construction work was not designed to shut the estate off from outside access."

Makal-Młynarska added that only cars entering HPA are regulated by the security guards, and pedestrians are free to walk through the estate and enjoy its green area. "We are open to outside guests and we offer lots of public space," she added. "We even have an art gallery, which is open to the public. Isolation from the outside world has never been the aim of the HPA management or its tenants."

Market demand

Experts say that the protests will not dissuade people from buying houses or apartments in guarded estates. "Separation from the outside world is not the reason why people choose to settle in these kinds of communities," says Anna Kwiatkowska, head of the residential department at Cushman & Wakefield Polska. "It is only about the sense of security and the desire to provide this to the family and property," she explains.

People believe that video surveillance, gates and a checkpoint for cars help ensure their security. "The presence of security guards as well as cameras is now something that customers ask for and something they are willing to pay for." Kwiatkowska added.

"There is little alternative on the market as gated communities or well guarded estates are mostly offered to customers," said Makal-Młynarska.

Dr Grażyna Romańczuk from the department of applied social sciences and re-socialization at the University of Warsaw, pointed out that only the secondary market offers real estate that is not fenced or guarded.

Sense of insecurity

But even if security is a crucial factor in choosing the location of a new house or apartment, it does not always mean that these communities' inhabitants are always happy with the presence of security facilities. Romańczuk gives an example of the inhabitants of one gated estate who feel that they are cut off from the rest of the world.

"They feel frightened and uncomfortable when they have to walk past the same guard, waiting at the checkpoint, several times a day. Sometimes they choose to sneak out of their house via the garage to avoid contact with the guards," she added.

Anna Kwiatkowska also highlights the fact that throughout the world, the best residential buildings and those with the finest architecture are in the center of cities and do not belong to any kind of gated community. "Of course, urbanites do not like guarded estates as they believe that open and public space brings real value to real-estate projects," she says.

Urbane development

The protesters also have their supporters. "I liked the action of Warsaw's alter-globalists," says Ludwig Biegański, publisher of Urbanista (Urbanite) magazine. "It was very radical but calm and civilized at the same time. The issue was highlighted, but no harm was done." He adds that the phenomenon of gated communities is very well known, coming from the peoples' need for private space and to share their space with people from the same background. "Developers discovered that these guarded communities provide them with more clients. It is a question of whether the clients are happy with the arrangement, as the security could be illusory," Biegański says.