ABSTRACT
In the past 25 years gated residential developments, known as gated communities, have altered the American urban landscape as well as American suburban society and its lifestyle. Along with the emergence of these privately administered residential areas came a change in the quality and scope of public administration and services for the remaining urban areas. Both the quality and quantity of these municipal services have declined in most US cities owing to reduced public spending, while the private sector specialising in these new communities has boomed. The residents and elected representatives of these communities could not manage without this private service sector industry.
