City of walls: the motivation and desire behind gated communities

Post World War II the idea of the "neighborhood" has been rapidly reinvented by a variety of influential factors such as mass suburbanization, urban development, and economic expansion. This thesis explores the ways in which neighborhood space has transformed from the public to private sphere through the creation of gated communities. Anthropological methods such as interviews, questionnaires, text analysis, and participant observation were utilized to determine individual's motivation and desire to create and reside within gated communities.