Comparative Analysis of Preferences to Live in Gated Communities: A Case Study of Bandung Metropolitan Area

Abstrak ini diambil dari makalah yang  dipublikasikan pada AMER International Conference on Quality of Life pada tanggal 6 April 2013 di Holiday Villa Spa & Resort, Langkawi, Malaysia yang disusun oleh Alia Widyarini Hapsariniaty.

Gated communities are term given to gated residential developments with limited access, known as residential cluster or cul-de-sac in Indonesia. It has become a global phenomenon occurring in many countries around the world. The rise of gated communities usually associated with security and safety issues and low environment quality in urban areas, such as congestion and noise.

Nowadays, most of the new housing developments in Bandung metropolitan area are gated communities. These gated communities usually built on a relatively small plot of land with the size of the development smaller than 2 hectares, with a small number of housing units. Middle class that are growing in Indonesia is encouraging the development of these housing clusters. The size of the dwelling and the facilities provided are also particularly limited and tends to support the form of a small nuclear family.

This paper is a part of an ongoing thesis research discussing middle-class households’ preferences choosing to live in gated communities in Bandung, Indonesia. This study attempts to compare households’ preferences in two locations, urban and suburban areas of Bandung, and generate a general understanding about the difference between household’s characteristics in those two locations

The thesis research consists of two phases and will be using sequential mixed methods study with two phases. This paper will describe the first phase of the research, which is qualitative exploration of households’ preferences when choosing to live in gated communities with characteristics mentioned above. This paper use observation and semi-structured interview techniques with a case study approach. The findings show there are differences between preferences of housing dwellers in urban and suburban location. Proximity to neighborhood services is the most significant factor for respondents in the urban area while comfortable environment is the most significant factors for respondents in the suburban area. For choosing gated communities, the similar significant variables mentioned by the respondents in both locations are security, proximity to neighborhood services, and comfortable environments. Nevertheless, the respondents in the suburban area mentioned about scenic/environmentally attractive area while the respondents in the urban area never mentioned it. It shows that the respondents in the suburban area choosing to live in that location because of the environment quality.