Constructing the Pomerium in Las Vegas:: A case study of emerging trends in American gated communities

Private communities, many of them gated, are the predominant form of new housing construction across much of the United States. The rapid spread of this institution is driven by structural forces such as rising land costs, local government fiscal constraints, and consumer preferences for security and control over space. Some municipalities, such as Las Vegas, are actively promoting this transformation of home ownership and governance. New housing developments must be governed by private homeowner associations and existing neighbourhoods are under pressure to become private communities. This paper presents the case study of Bonanza Village, an old Las Vegas neighbourhood that was turned into a gated community, over the objections of many of its residents, through concerted action of a neighbourhood homeowner association and the City of Las Vegas.