Cul-de-sacs, Superblocks and Environmental Areas as Supports of Residential Territorialization: Fid-Bau Portal

Cul-de-sacs, Superblocks and Environmental Areas as Supports of Residential Territorialization

Charmes, Eric

In the suburbs, residential territorialization is most often associated with common interest developments, homeowners' associations, gated communities and sociospatial segregation. These forms of territorialization have been the subject of many critical analyses by the academic community. These criticisms, however, frequently discount the significance of the road network layout. This paper shows that cul-de-sacs, superblocks and 'environmental areas' are key factors. It provides support to the hypothesis that exclusionary residential territories exist along a continuum, ranging from no-through streets, superblocks, environmental areas, gated communities and privately managed communities. The creation of two cul-de-sacs facing each other can thus be compared to the erection of a barrier in the middle of a street open to through-traffic. Similarly, environmental areas function as residential enclaves.