Gates of Exclusion: The Rise of Barrios Privados in Metropolitan Buenos Aires in the Recent Fin de Siècle

The period from 1990 to 2010 marked a remarkable transformation in the metropolitan region of Buenos Aires with the rise of dozens of gated communities as populated new suburbs of the city. The rapid construction of these new “barrios privados” such as the urban agglomeration Nordelta, approximately 30 kilometers north from the city, have reflected a commitment to "totalized spaces" that has remade the spatial landscape of the province of Buenos Aires. Residents have flocked to these new suburbs while bemoaning crime and public services within Buenos Aires. In turn, these private neighborhoods have simultaneously transformed social relations in the city by reorienting everyday activities away from the city center. The resultant creation of new neighborhoods, private schools, hospitals, and new spatial understandings of “community” illustrate novel practices of spatial politics in Latin American metropolises. Residents of the new barrios privados concern themselves with the social life of country clubs and advocating for suburban options in higher education, religion, and work that all take place away from traditional urban spaces.

By examining the transnational histories of these new suburban enclaves, this paper argues for the utility of analyzing gated communities in Latin America as part of a “Global Sun Belt.” Gated communities have become a major force in a transnational politics of exclusion that connects real estate developers from Orange County to South Florida to Argentina. This paper is an initial foray into studying the recent history of the suburbs of metropolitan Buenos Aires as reflecting global transformations that have de-incentivized urban life while also marketing a new version of the “global American suburb.”