Ruminations on gated communities

Aweh dearly beloved fellow ruminants & groupies

First, a self-indulgent digression before getting into gated communities. Why do I write this blog? Why indeed? I have some loyal groupies but unfortunately not the kind of groupies who throw their underwear onto the stage. At the other end of the spectrum, I have some critics who have suggested to me that I should rather be more private and see a therapist than write this blog. This would certainly be easier for me, and I could pay someone who would be forced to listen to me and pretend to be interested. Composing a blog every week takes a lot more effort than seeing a therapist. I accept the criticism that my blog is self-indulgent or narcissistic if you like but it is also a way for me to connect with a wide variety of people I would not otherwise talk to. The desire to be part of a like-minded community applies to most people, myself included, and leads us to the topic of gated communities.

Gated communities are very popular in South Africa and in many other parts of the world. A gated community is a form of a residential community containing controlled entrances to control access and record the movement of residents and visitors and keep undesired people out. In New York City they are called doorman buildings. With modern and evolving artificial intelligence software and cameras coupled with facial recognition, number plate recognition, and advanced image analysis unwanted behaviour and crime can be monitored and prevented. There is a global resurgence of xenophobia and a desire to keep “foreigners” out. At a country level, the definition of foreigners is well understood. Wealthy countries want to keep people from poor countries out or at least vet them carefully before they are granted a limited visa. The visa application process for a South African to go to Europe, England, or the United States is a daunting procedure taking days of your time as you are thoroughly scrutinised and interviewed.

At a local level foreigners are defined as non-residents and poorer people who don’t need access to your gated community unless they are invited. There is a separate tradesmen entrance for contractors and service providers.

At the many security estates in South Africa, you will need to be invited by a resident, your driver’s license, and car registration will be scanned and your photograph taken all of which will be fed into the artificial intelligence software and recorded. We don’t live in a security estate but our street has overwhelmingly voted to close our road with a boom gate controlling access. Anybody will be able to access the street, but cameras will record your face and car details as you access our street. This will be linked in real-time to the managing security company’s advanced software. Suspicious individuals or cars will be flagged for immediate action. Not quite a full-blown security estate but perhaps a security estate lite.

Violent crime is a reality in Johannesburg and is the main driving force behind the desire to control access and record the movements of everyone. There is also perhaps an unstated desire to keep the great unwashed out or at least make it more difficult for them.

Measuring, controlling, recording, and analysing the movements of everyone is an unstoppable trend at a local level in Johannesburg and most other cities in the world. The same applies across national borders. Whatever I may think about this I would suggest that this is a very strong and unstoppable trend aided by rapid and very powerful technological evolution.

Where might this lead? Science fiction may offer a glimpse of the future. The South African-born and talented movie director, Neil Blomkamp, directed the movie Elysium. This movie is about the ultimate gated community. In 2154, Earth is overpopulated, diseased, and polluted. The planet’s citizens live in poverty while the rich and powerful live on Elysium, an orbiting space station just outside of Earth’s atmosphere. Access to a space shuttle to transport you to Elysium is a pretty effective way to keep the great unwashed out. Your own personalised Bugatti space shuttle is the ultimate status symbol. Those living on Elysium have access to state-of-the-art and, of course, very expensive medical technology prolonging their lives and quality of life. It is already the case in South Africa and many parts of the world that the medical treatment you receive depends on how much you can afford. Very expensive new drugs are constantly emerging to treat a wide variety of serious illnesses.

Of course, this is just a movie, but gated communities are here to stay grow and prosper. Many gated communities strive to create an entire ecosystem limiting your need to venture outside its boundaries. Shopping, schooling, and work can be accommodated within the community. As South Africa’s infrastructural collapse continues the gated community is likely to step in to provide electricity, water, sewage treatment, and pothole-free roads. You can create a community largely divorced from the realities the poor majority needs to face. If you can afford it and you choose to you can retreat into this bubble and live most of your life, there. How sustainable this is remains to be seen.

Should I retreat into this idealised reality? To what extent have I already done so? Who am I to judge people who make this choice?

Thank you for all the ideas and comments. I really appreciate them and please keep them coming.

Regards

Bruce