Urban residential dynamics: a new trend of emerging gated communities1in and around Kandy city, Sri Lanka

Abstract

This study explores the emerging phenomena of gated communities in and around the second largest city, Kandy in Sri Lanka, within the context of a larger study aimed at understanding the changing residential dynamics and their impact on the development of the city itself. Although gated communities have been a common phenomenon in Colombo, they are just emerging in Kandy at a time when rapid transformations in its spatial structure are taking place. This study attempts to identify different types of gated communities along with their residential characteristic’s and motives and to figure out why they are located in the rural hinterland of Kandy. This study was conducted through a series of in-depth interviews, key informant interviews, informal discussions along with regular direct observations in 2018 and the beginning of 2019. The study identifies three types of gated communities in Kandy, which can be classified as ornamental, semi - featured, fully - gated community projects. Most of these gated communities are located outside the city boundaries, at a distance of about 16 -18 kilometers, in the rural surroundings. The preliminary findings of the study reveal that they are wrought by the scenery, greenery and the rurality of the locations that provide an experiential difference for those in the cities. Very interestingly, the residents (current and potential) of these gated communities are either who are residents in Colombo from wealthy business class or foreigners who have investment interests. This spatial transformation, especially in the rural hinterland, is slowly popularizing with a new urban socio-spatiality dynamic of ‘outsider into an insider’ and ‘insider into an outsider.’ In order to capture this new socio-spatial dynamic of gated communities, the study theoretically engages with the spatiality of human life and third space as developed by Edward Soja in 1996.