'good' and 'real' places: a geographical-moral critique of territorial place-making

As a spatial strategy to control people by controlling access to space, gated communities are territorial place-making devices par excellence. While gated communities often conjure up images of extreme urban inequality and social-spatial segregation, relatively few works have actually engaged in more normative analysis and debates on these contentious urban forms. Addressing this lacuna, this paper will critically examine the geographical-moral dimensions of gated communities by adopting Sack's (2003) theoretical framework on 'good' and 'real' places. Specifically, the paper seeks to underscore the geographical-moral significance of place by considering gated communities as a key site for the critical reflection on the moral content of urban development driven by ideologies of privatism and neoliberal market logic.