The Impact of Gated and Guarded Development Concept from the Social Aspect: Non Resident Perspective

Gated and Guarded Development Concept (GACOS) offers competent security and maintenance besides ensuring an exclusive and private lifestyle. Despite the rise in the number of GACOS developments, they are mired in various issues and controversies specifically negative social connotations. These developments are perceived to denote ‘social apartheid’ within a residential neighbourhood. Hence, an empirical study has been conducted to investigate the social effects arising from GACOS development with the Ipoh Conurbation area as the case study. Findings from this empirical study indicated that there exists a social gap between residents within a GACOS development and those within the surrounding areas.