1 ABSTRACT
The past few decades, have witnessed a practical orientation toward gated communities and divided cities. Enclosed planned unit development (PUD) has been centers of concern for city planning since the late nineteenth century. The relation between PUD and its contextual urban fabric is a preventive force toward a livable city form, a major part of the problem was the clear boundaries between communities. On the contrary a reversed theoretical transformation towards achieving good urban form, which is mainly directed toward a more livable, sustainable, connected urban form, is taking place.
This paper criticizes the recent practice of gated communities in greater Cairo region new towns comparing with contemporary theory of good community. It explores systematically the ways in which these types of developments are reshaping micro community and their relation with adjacent community and the ways in which they collectively reshaping the public and private realms of the city, and accordingly shape the livability of the city at large. Finally It explore the local context specially the role of the state and developers in producing urban development legislation that impact on the pattern of using these gated communities, and consequently reshape the spatial structuring of metropolitan areas. With particular reference to the experience of a developing country like Cairo metropolitan area in Egypt.
Keywords: Theory versus practice - Gated versus open community - connected versus divided city- livability - Greater Cairo Region – Egypt.