Incidence of gated communities in the urban and social fragmentation of the city of Manta-Ecuador

Abstract

The city represented by the dispersion of infrastructures and urban functions is one of the current trends and incidences in urban development. From the neoliberal model of Latin America, great changes have been developing with an evident fragmentation of the city through closed urbanizations as an impact that materialize the forms of expansion and growth that generate socio-spatial segregation. The present investigation was directed to analyze the incidence of gated communities in the urban and social fragmentation of the city of Manta-Ecuador. The proposed methodology was based on the socio-critical paradigm, by taking a descriptive bibliographic analysis as a starting point, therefore, the nature of the data was a quantitative approach, under a non-experimental research design, field with descriptive scope and the application of the survey instrument in order to have a diagnosis of approximation to the reality object of the study. Among the main findings were identified through conceptual theoretical assessments and the results of the diagnosis, how gated communities represent a new paradigm of quality of life and fragment the city, avoiding the interrelation of groups with different economic, social and cultural capital.