Interactive spatial distribution of gated and guarded communities in Petaling Jaya, Malaysia

This study investigates how spatial distribution of gated and guarded communities integrated each other and influencing existing conventional neighbourhood. More than 15 years ago, concern over rising crime rate and the movement in trend for luxury living influence housing developer to introduce gated community schemes in suburban area of Kuala Lumpur. Though legally not permissible, some neighbouring households who live next to each other choose to enclose their neighbourhood (guarded neighbourhood) by fences or restricting access. To address the situation, the government amended the law and introduced new guidelines in 2007 that allowed the emergence of gated and guarded communities. Different decisions by the developers and communities on how they are enclosed since 1990's generate different allocations and assignments of property rights, which tend to affect the behaviour of the communities and should have some significant economic implications. This study begins by identifying the relation between the institutional theory of the neighbourhood with private housing development, generating an interactive spatial distribution of gated and guarded neighbourhoods, and finally exploring the connection between those two layers that influenced existing conventional neighbourhood. It will make use of a number of important concepts and issues of institutional studies, such as hierarchies of rules, governance structure, property rights, collective action, institutional change and problems of the commons. The topic has not been examined in Malaysia through the new institutional economics (NIE) perspective. This article seeks to fill part of the gap by illustrating an interactive spatial distribution of enclosing enclave spillover in Petaling Jaya, Malaysia. The findings of this study may reflect an appropriateness of the new law and provide a prefer governance patterns either guarded or non-guarded as references for community to develop voluntarily for the best of the interest.