Defining semi-public space: a case study in the gated communities of Yaşamkent, Ankara

Abstract

ABSTRACTUrban space is accepted as an inextricable part of public life. It is assumed that the upper-middle class has been sequestering itself from the rest of society by living in enclosed and private spaces. This intentional disengagement from public life and public spaces has been studied by the literature on gated communities. This article operationalizes the gated community beyond the debate on social segregation and includes it in the discussion of the use, production and transformation of urban spaces along with the isolation, privatization, and idealization of a specific place. This study departs from the understanding that the gated community is simply a new form of social segregation. Instead, it acknowledges enclosed residential areas as semi-public spaces in which attributes of public and private spaces are merged.