GUARDED NEIGHBOURHOODS: TERRITORIAL FORMATION OF SEMI-PUBLIC SPACES IN THE CITY

Abstract

This paper identifies the increasing popularity of self-established guarded neighbourhoods in Petaling Jaya (PJ), a satellite city of Kuala Lumpur (KL), Malaysia. Although guarded neighbourhoods are legally not permitted to restrict access to the public roads, observations of the guarded neighbourhoods reveal that obstructions are created to limit and monitor vehicular access, thus classifying it as a form of gated community. The effects of the formation of a neighbourhood territory were discussed through the observation of the guarded neighbourhoods. Though the territoriality of the guarded neighbourhood was found to benefit the smaller scale of the local community, it can be argued that the physical obstruction creates a landscape of exclusion on the wider scale of the city. In order to access the effect of the guarded neighbourhood as change in the quality of public space, the context of the public spaces in PJ were examined and found to be not conducive for community building due to its fragmented quality. The possibility of the formation of a local territory in the form of the semi-public spaces of the guarded neighbourhood as compensation to the lack of quality in the public spaces that facilitates community building was discussed.