Neighborhood type, gatedness, and residential experiences in Chinese cities: A study of guangzhou

The transition from a socialist centrally planned economy to a socialist market economy, together with a land tenure system reflecting an institutionalized urban-rural divide, has produced neighborhood and housing types characterized by distinct built-environment features and socio-occupational mixes. Using data from a household survey conducted in Guangzhou, this study analyzes the interrelationship between neighborly relations and community attachment on one hand, and neighborhood satisfaction on the other, and also examines how such relationships are conditioned by the built residential environment. The results show that local networks are generally weaker in commodity-housing enclaves. However, commodity-housing estates exhibit higher community attachment and neighborhood satisfaction, even though gating appears to have minimal effects on community attachment.