More fear, less walking: taking a walk in fortified housing environments in urban Mexico

Abstract

The effects of gated community environments on walking are well documented. Most contributions focus on the built environment, and show how the lack of street connectivity usually discourages walking, along with long and defensive walls, dull public spaces, and the absence of retail shops and interesting places. This paper takes a complementary approach, as it questions why people in housing developments with access barriers stopped taking a walk outside, due to security concerns. It is based on the National Survey on Victimization and Perception of Public Security, 2018, carried out in households by the National Bureau of Statistics in Mexico. Results did not allow to conclusively confirm that people in fortified developments avoided taking a walk outside to a larger extent than people in non-fortified enclaves due to security concerns. Nevertheless, the study discovered that different drives led people to cease to take a walk outside, depending on the kind of development. Residents in housing developments with access barriers refrained more from taking a walk outside because of security perception and fear of crime. Concurrently, inhabitants in non-fortified housing developments stopped taking a walk outside owing to ‘objective’ conditions, such as socio-spatial disorder in the neighborhood and the state of residence.