Gating Housing in Sweden : Walling in the Privileged, Walling out the Public

• The past two decades have witnessed an increase of housing surrounded by walls in the Swedish cityscape. Although Swedish cities do not have the equivalent of gated communities, in the sense of isolated islands of ‘incarceration’ or of a ‘fortress city’, this chapter shows that they are undergoing a process of material enclavism, resulting in urban gating and the construction of exclusive residential hotel housing. The main argument is that gated housing in Sweden reflects and reinforces the ongoing social and geographical polarization of the metropolitan regions. The practices of walling in and walling out, constructed through housing, are simultaneously hindering movement for the general public while supporting movement for privileged groups. Additionally, the concentration of services, amenities and access to physical and high-speed digital infrastructure in exclusive housing lead to new spaces of disaffiliation, or self-segregation, for privileged groups. The chapter concludes that the process of walling in and walling out is a development towards privatization and material enclavism, indicative of a shift in attitudes toward housing in Swedish politics.

Ämnesord

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Social och ekonomisk geografi (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Social and Economic Geography (hsv//eng)

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