Drivers of gated community developments in Ghana: perspective of developers

Abstract

PurposeGated communities continue to spread in popularity across cities around the world. Ghana has seen considerable growth in the development of gated communities over the last few years. This phenomenon manifests in the majority new residential developments and most forms of residential property advertisement in the capital city. The purpose of this paper is to explore the drivers of gated community developments in Ghana from the perspective of gated community developers.Design/methodology/approachThis paper used a qualitative research approach. Through face-to-face semi-structured interviews, data was collected from purposively selected key stakeholders in the gated community development market, including developers, managers and consultants.FindingsThe drivers identified from the developers' perspective were the demand for gated community properties, the control over and ease of management of assets and interests, the high development/production cost of real estate and speculative development of gated community properties.Originality/valueThis paper is an initial study that explores the drivers of gated community developments in Ghana from the perspective of gated community developers. This paper extends the literature on gated communities beyond the residents perspective.