الفهرس 
INTRODUCTIONOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
 |  | from | 106 |  |  |
| | | from | 106 | | |
Abstract
Gated communities have been the prevailing housing trend and the typical pattern of development in the last quarter of twentieth century across the globe as well as in Egypt. To date, there are hundreds of gated residential communities developed across Egyptian cities, which make them one of the common trends that has the ability to make deeper changes in the built environment of the contemporary Egyptian cities. As the trend of gated communities continues to sweep across the globe, it has brought with it a considerable number of debates regarding its implications, including: the increased fear of crime, social exclusion, urban fragmentation and separation, problems in terms of urban management and financial benefit. The most argumentative of them is the socio-psychological impact of its physical structure on the micro and macro scale. While several scholars are concerned about the importance of sense of community and the strong community ties, believing in the role of neighborhood’s physical structure in contributing towards the establishment and maintenance of local social cohesion. Besides believing that a physical element such as gating element has an influence on community cohesion and relationships. Another several international scholars clearly show that the social impact of the gated communities isn’t a subject on which there is a general agreement at on the present, and it is unlikely that there will be in the foreseeable future. In order to contribute to these debates, this research aims at: (i) estimating the range of gated communities’ spread inside metropolitan areas, especially Alexandria, offering a new typology to differentiate between gated communities’ prototypes based on its unique physical structure. (ii) exploring the validity of the social impact of gated communities on the micro scale. This study begins with a review of literature about gated communities globally. After that a systematic survey to document and classify gated communities in Egypt especially Alexandria. Then, relying on a qualitative research that ends with a comparative analysis between gated and non-gated neighborhoods to validate its social impact. Social cohesion between neighborhood’s residents was measured using Buckner’s method ‘Neighborhood Cohesion Instrument’. Data for this method was collected by applying online questionnaire and direct interviews in four selected neighborhoods; two are gated and other two are non-gated. Data were analyzed using SPSS ‘Statistical Package for the Social Sciences’ software. After comparing data from gated and non-gated neighborhood, this research argues that in Alexandria, there is no significant social impact for the physical structure of gates communities on the neighborhood level. It is however concluded that residents’ sense of neighborhood cohesion increases due to physical factors such as mixed uses and open spaces. These factors provide a life style that encourage residents to communicate. This research does not claim to settle the dispute, but to shed light on the phenomenon and its impact in the case of Alexandria.