Spatial and Digital Fortressing of Apartment Complexes in Seoul: Two Case Studies

Abstract

Previous studies have associated gated developments with fear of crime, social exclusion, and fragmentation of urban space. However, there have been few studies that have explicitly examined the visible and invisible methods of spatial control. This study investigates the progressive strengthening of both the spatial and technological means of spatial control in Seoul’s apartment complexes on a timeline. It traces the evolution of control beginning from the initially pervasive physical boundaries of apartment complexes in the 1970s to the panopticon-like digital surveillance in the 2020s. After placing this study in the critical literature of gated communities emphasizing the Korean context, two cases are analyzed to examine the representatively conspicuous phenomenon of spatial and digital fortressing among apartment complexes in Seoul. The first case study of a typical apartment complex built in the early 1980s in Gangnam, one of Seoul’s most affluent districts, shows the chronological implementation of spatial and technological control which are ‘added on’ or retrofitted over time. The second case shows how these spatial and technological controls have been incorporated as part of the ‘total package’ of amenities included in a nearby redeveloped apartment complex built in the late 2010s. The paper aims to highlight the growing trend toward social and urban fragmentation in Seoul and to contribute to the discussion on how urban design and technology are shaping an intensified residential exclusiveness.