The enclosed ones - Why are gated communities spreading to lower income groups in São Paulo?

Abstract: This thesis focuses on the question of why gated communities are spreading to lower income groups in the metropolitan area of São Paulo, Brazil. To answer the question, fieldwork was done and primary data was collected by conducting in total 57 structured and 10 semi-structured interviews with residents in a the gated communities Alphaville 1 in Barueri and Condominio da Sucupira in Carapicuiba. Semi-structured interviews were also conducted with seven key persons; one developer of gated communities for lower income groups, two journalists whereof one on O Estado de São Paulo and one on Folha de São Paulo, four professors in Urban Geography at FFLCH on University of São Paulo. As a theoretical framework Blakely and Snyder’s book Fortress America: Gated Communities in the United States, was used. An interesting research result is that even though security might seem as the most important reason to why people move to gated communities for lower income groups, economy turns out to play an important role.