ABSTRACT
Corporations claim that spaces are "public" as long as anyone can enter. By this criterion, shopping centers have equal status as a public good with town squares. Shopping malls are spreading in cities as the basis of the "revitalization" movement, allowing corporations to reclaim the new urban frontier. The traditional forms of public spaces have almost completely disappeared from the American megalopolises. According to the American Housing Survey, conducted by the US Census Bureau, the number of people living in gated communities rose to almost 11 million households in 2009, up from slightly more than 7 million in 2001, though the numbers may actually be significantly higher. It is Mexico that has both the largest population of gated community dwellers in the world and the largest number of gated community dwellers as a percentage of national population. Somewhat similar economic effects are engendered by the type of design entwined into housing policies and urban planning.
