From Buenos Aires to Beersheba, Kiev to Kabul, gated communities are springing up in unprecedented numbers across the globe to keep cities' wealthier residents apart from the rest
Mon 5 May 2014 03.01 EDT Last modified on Mon 3 Feb 2020 07.58 EST
A birds' eye view of the Buenos Aires slum La Caval, top, and a gated suburban community, below. La Cava's jumble of ramshackle plywood homes has grown swiftly in a country where the contrast between rich and poor is particularly obvious. Photograph: Natacha Pisarenko/AP Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
Early evening in Aria City, a gated community residential complex in Kabul, Afghanistan. Photograph: Joel van Houdt for the Guardian Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
Dainfern, in the northern suburbs of Johannesburg, South Africa, has a four-metre electrified fence with cameras and vibration sensors protecting more than 1,200 houses. In the foreground, workers exhume bodies to make way for another development. Photograph: Jeffrey Barbee Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
The orchestra rest during the opening ceremony of Chongqing Palm Springs Garden, a gated community in Chongqing, China. The villas went on sale for 16 million yuan ($2m) each. Photograph: China Photos/Getty Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
The cookie-cutter townhouses of Rosinka, a gated development on the outskirts of Moscow. It is the largest of several American-style suburbs emerging on the outskirts of the Russian capital, catering mostly to foreign businessmen. Photograph: Sergei Karpukhin/AP Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
Empire City is one of a number of new gated communities in Erbil, Iraq. The capital of the semi-autonomous region of Iraqi Kurdistan is in the midst of a huge development boom. Photograph: Sebastian Meyer/Corbis Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
The homes of Alphaville in the outskirts of Sao Paulo stand in stark contrast to the building units beyond its walls. Photograph: Carlos Cazalis/Corbis Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
Traders ply their wares in the shadow of newly constructed, gated apartment blocks in Luanda, Angola. Photograph: Joerg Boethling/Alamy Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
A walled compound opposite Nairobi National Park. Modern developments are encroaching on the park borders, threatening wildlife reserves while providing housing for the growing population. Photograph: Wendy Stone/Corbis Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
Homestead, Florida, is one of a number of gated communities in the US. They have become more popular not only for celebrities but for middle-class homeowners fearful for their safety. Photograph: Sipa Press/REX Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
