THE ENCLAVES OF THE MARRIED AND EDUCATED PEOPLE”: CHARACTERIZING THE RESIDENTS OF GATED COMMUNITIES IN KANO METROPOLIS

Gated communities are the fastest growing housing types in many countries of the world. Such residential developments heighten residential segregation more intensely than the most exclusive urban neighbourhoods. In Kano metropolis gated communities constitute significant physical, spatial and socioeconomic realities. This paper is aimed at describing the socio-economic characteristics of gated communities in the metropolis.  Quantitative data on the socio-economic and demographic attributes of the residents of the gated communities were sourced through structured interviews with the residents and indepth interviews with the various estate firms and private land developers operating in the metropolis. Using convenient sampling based on availability of respondents, a total of 342 out of the 1,352 gated households were sampled. It is found that majority of the heads of the gated households were male (98.2%), married (90%), have children and maintain between 1–9 family members (69%); and 48.5 % of them have post-secondary school education. The results indicated that close to 40% of the heads of the gated households were civil servants, some 42% of them live in their own personal houses and 35% stay in rented houses. It is concluded that gated communities are parts of the physical and socio-economic realities of the metropolis, and they served as the enclaves or communities of specific types of residents that are relatively similar in their demographic, social and economic characteristics. It is recommended that mixed-use development and inclusive zoning regulations should be encouraged within and outside the gated communities to promote diversity and reduce residential segregation.