In sociology research, there are several forms of mobility that can be restricted for disadvantaged populations. According to Massey and Denton (2013), barriers to spatial mobility or intra-urban migration can also act as challenges to individuals’ movement through social hierarchy systems. The authors regard groups’ movement across various locations as something that relies heavily on the economics of this population (Massey & Denton, 2013). A thorough observation of the sub-components of economics would reveal that there are social and socio-cultural aspects affecting populations’ behaviors (Massey & Denton, 2013). The experienced flows are inherent in individuals that reside within some specific spatial structuring of economic, social, and ethnic differences (Donnelly & Gamsu, 2019). Apartheid is among the examples of the legitimization of race-based access to spaces and services. It is a political system that has been used to segregate black populations in contained localities that have greatly disadvantaged them and acted as barriers to social mobility.
The social relations among space between different social classes mutually shape and reshape each entity over time. There is an apparent existence of inequality-reinforcing structures of economic power, which leads to the reproduction of oppressed and dominant positions across geographic and social spaces. The black community in America was spatially segregated in the ghettos, which created barriers to social mobility. The blacks in the ghettos do not have the same opportunities as those in white neighborhoods due to the squalid conditions they are exposed to in their localities. They have limited chances of getting well-paying jobs due to the low levels of education and skills that can be acquired in their places of residence. Alternate communities living in white neighborhoods have many opportunities due to the high quality of life and services they access.
Children living in white neighborhoods go to better schools, which increases their chances of getting more prestigious jobs and adequate skills. Therefore, they have a better chance to benefit from social mobility as opposed to those living in substandard neighborhoods (Donnelly & Gamsu, 2019). There is also the issue of ethnicity and race that have a significant influence on how groups view or perceive the geography in which they reside. These spatial flows play a great role in determining the power such groups hold in social life.
A city suffers by having a walled or gated community due to several reasons. The fear of criminal activities has greatly contributed to the fear of the city, leading to the emergence of gated communities and the withdrawal of some populations from public space (Caldeira, 1993). Caldeira (1993) also highlights the undermining of openness and unrestricted circulation to explain strictly controlled communities’ detrimental effects on cities. Even though gated sections might be seen as secure and full of civility, some residents view them as enclaves that embody segregation and oppression (Barrantes-Chaves, 2021). They are used to control the movement of whole communities whose interactions with others are limited in the name of security concerns. Also, walled and gated communities threaten the greater accommodation of diversity and social integration (Caldeira, 1993). Individuals living in gated communities are isolated and limit their chances of integrating with others. This type of community also reinforces economic and ethnic segregation by enhancing the commodification of individualism and privacy.
All these factors make the whole city suffer because they affect the idea of an open, inclusive, and equitable community. They lead to a classification of the community where individuals are judged by where they stay and their economic potential. Gated or walled communities also affect urban connectivity and interfere with efforts to improve transportation networks. In total, such communities contribute to increased social segregation by class and race, thus leading to extreme inequality.
References
Barrantes-Chaves, K. (2021). Fear and segregation: Anxiety beyond gated communities. The Costa Rican case. In I. Vassallo et al. (Eds.), Spatial tensions in urban design (pp. 63-74). Springer.
Caldeira, T. (1993). Fortified enclaves: The new urban segregation. Public Culture, 8(2), 303–328.
Donnelly, M., & Gamsu, S. (2019). Spatial structures of student mobility: Social, economic and ethnic ‘geometries of power’. Population, Space and Place, 26(3), e2293.
Massey, D. S., & Denton, N. A. (2013). Segregation and the making of the underclass. In J. Lin & C. Mele (Eds.), The urban sociology reader (2nd ed., pp. 206-215). Routledge.