IDENTITY AND REPRESENTATIONS OF GATED

COMMUNITIES IN BANGALORE, INDIA

Abstract
Gated communities, residential enclaves that offer upscale housing and a variety of recreational and communal
facilities within a walled area with controlled entrances, are proliferating in many of India's large metropolitan cities.
In this paper, we analyze the images of place and identity that are evoked in online advertisements for gated communities in the city of Bangalore in southern India. Since the 1990s, Bangalore has become known as India's premier
information technology (IT) hub and a magnet for multinational corporations and high-skill personnel. The latter
include Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) who lived and worked abroad for several years and have returned to partake of
new opportunities offered in the country. We explore the intersection of notions of identity, home and community in a
globalised world through an examination of the graphic and textual images encoded in the advertisements of thirteen
prominent developers in Bangalore whose upscale gated developments cater to NRIs. The advertisements depict highend gated communities as places of luxury, exclusiveness, high security and convenience which also offer a range of
recreational facilities for individuals and families. Additionally, those who live in the gated enclaves are portrayed as
persons of distinction and class who are global and cosmopolitan in their outlook and identity.
K e y w o r d s : Gated Community, Place, Identity, Bangalore, India.

INTRODUCTION
Once found primarily in the developed world, formally defined gated communities are now part of
urban and suburban environments in developing
countries (Blakeley and Snyder, 1997; Webster,
Glasze and Frantz, 2002). Walled and guarded,
the gated residential enclave offers upscale housing
and a multitude of amenities for its inhabitants. The
primary rationale for a gated community (GC)
varies. The enclave may result from the need to
spatially separate peoples of differing cultures as in
the case of GCs for Western expatriates in Saudi
Arabia (Glasze, 2006), the perceived need for protection from violent urban crime as in the "condominios fechados" of Brazil and the "barrios privados" of Argentina (Coy, 2006) or a combination of
cultural differences and fear as in the GCs in postapartheid South Africa (Durington, 2006).
Additionally, living in an expensive GC can provide
access to exclusive onsite recreational facilities and
confer social prestige. Gated enclaves housing
wealthy residents have burgeoned on the peripheries of many of India's metropolitan cities such as
Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore (Bengaluru), Chennai,

Kolkata and Hyderabad since the late 1990s,

adding a new element to existing cityscapes.
In this paper we present and analyze the
images of place that are evoked and espoused in
high-end gated residential enclaves in Bangalore in
the southern Indian state of Karnataka, focusing
particularly on developments that cater to returning
high-skill non-resident Indians (NRIs)1 from the
United States and other developed parts of the
world. We explore the intersection of the ideas of
identity, home and community in a globalised world
through an examination of the graphic and textual
images encoded in online advertisements for gated
enclaves in the city. We consider such advertising a
powerful spatializing discourse, one that both
moulds and reflects the values and ideals of a society. By paying particular attention to messages of
lifestyle, landscape, the built environment and local
and global cultures depicted in the advertisements,
we investigate how the upscale gated community is
promoted as an ideal living environment, providing
its residents with not just a home, but a ready-made
community.
Characteristics and identities are often attributed to place, sometimes creating what may be

A non-resident Indian (NRI) is an Indian citizen who lives abroad for employment or business for an extended period of
uncertain duration. The term is also used loosely for persons who were once Indian citizens but now hold citizenship of another
country.
1

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Elizabeth Chacko & Paul Varghese

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open house international Vol 34, No.3, September 2009 Identity and Representations of Gated Communities in Bangalore, India

considered "place myths", exaggerated qualities

that are associated with locales (Shields, 1991).
Steele (1981) identifies the confluence of three elements in the formation of place: spirit of place,
which includes characteristics that give a location a
specific feel, place setting which comprises the
physical and social aspects that form the immediate
environment and a sense of place that is the particular experience of a person in a particular setting.
Image communication is an important strategy for
place promotion (Hopkins, 1998). In GCs, architecture is key in portraying the spirit of place within
the built environment. Images of buildings and
landscaped surroundings carry messages about
place and identity, often tying distinctive or unique
architectural designs and styles to notions of (high)
socio-economic class and idealized localities
(Stobart, 2003). The setting of a place, whether it
be in bucolic surroundings or upscale neighborhoods can be conveyed effectively through imagery
and metaphors in advertisements, selectively highlighting the most desirable aspects of place.
A sense of place can be fostered by an assumption
of the existence of a coherent community, attachment through long association with the locale, and
rootedness, all of which allude to ways in which
place is experienced (Relph, 1976). Photographs of
celebrations and gatherings in the public spaces of
GCs are often used to signal the interconnectedness among residents of GCs while descriptors
such as "couture community" and "an innate community that is tastefully different" hint of an exclusive
group. King (2004) notes that it is in the spaces and
forms of buildings that the social is represented.
GC homes are simultaneously offered as private
and intimate spaces within the communities. In this
paper, we examine the making of place by analyzing the images and text in advertisements of highend gated communities in Bangalore, using the
narrative-descriptive approach proposed by Tuan
(1991).
METHODOLOGIES
We obtained a list of 94 prominent developers/
builders and their projects in the city of Bangalore
from the website of the Karnataka Ownership
Apartments Promoters' Association (KOAPA, 2008).
These developers were screened to extract those
that were involved in the construction of gated
enclaves with high-end townhouses and villas.
Additionally, international developers involved in
58

building gated communities in Bangalore were also

identified via Internet searches. Most of the developers had websites that advertised future, ongoing
and completed upscale housing projects, with photographs or artists' renditions of homes, lists of
amenities and floor plans. A few also had video
clips showing simulated future enclaves with
focused fly-bys of exteriors and walk-throughs of
interiors and amenities. In total, the online advertisements of thirteen developers (Adarsh
Developers, Golden Gate Developers, G.R.
Developers, Vaswani Group, Vakil Housing
Development, Puravankara Projects, Alliance
Group, Concorde Group, Chaitanya Projects,
Sobha Group, Kristal Group, Ferns Builders, and
Royal Indian Raj) were analyzed for this paper.
The advertisements for GCs were examined for
their content, and the use of image, rhetoric, narrative and metaphor in the depiction of the physical, social and economic nature of these communities. Globally, GCs are promoted for the luxury,
pleasure and convenience they offer in a safe and
secure environment that is also exclusive. Content
analysis in combination with discourse analysis
allowed for a qualitative assessment of the ideas
and themes represented and endorsed in the
advertisements. For example, G.R. Developers
explicitly refers to the exclusive nature of their GCs
by employing words such as "unique", "posh" and
"distinctive", but also intimate exclusiveness by stating that its residents are mostly "NRI's, bankers,
senior corporate executives and business tycoons".
Attention was also paid to the nomenclature of the
gated communities as names were regarded as a
significant component of the image of these places.
We examined the discursive strategies that were
used to establish the image of high-end gated communities and the identities of their residents within
the context of Bangalore's colonial past and its
more recent emergence as one of India's premier
and fast-growing cities with multiple transnational
linkages.
THE SETTING: BANGALORE
Bangalore grew from a hamlet in the 9th century
A.D. to an urban center specializing in weaving and
trade in the 16th century. Its form and functions
were further transformed with the grafting of a military cantonment onto its periphery by the British in
1807. Over time, the colonial town acquired the
typical trappings of a British Indian settlement with

IDENTITY AND IMAGES OF GATED

COMMUNITIES
Gated residential communities that include villas,
townhouses and condominium blocks have
become prominent features on Bangalore's outskirts, housing local upper middle class families
and highly skilled and highly paid return migrants,
as well as expatriates. Located in carefully landscaped settings, such developments are clustered
particularly to the east and southeast of the city
adjacent to the Outer Ring Road, down Whitefield
Road where many of the new software technology
parks are situated, and along the proposed IT corridor that forms an arc to the east of the city. Many
of the gated communities are located close to the
new international airport 30 km outside Bangalore.
GCs are touted as residential enclaves that are on
par with international standards in the design and
quality of their built forms, amenities and infrastructure, with the added advantage of being highly
secured areas as well.
Advertisements mould as well as reflect life,
shaping lifestyles while also echoing desires of how
the viewers would like to perceive themselves
(Williamson, 1978). Place representations are constructed and marketed through advertising, attributing identities and characteristics to geographical
spaces and persons associated with these spaces.
Blakely and Snyder (1997) note that residents of
GCs in the United States are drawn to the exclusivity and safety that these developments offer. Grant
(2005) notes that GCs in Canada target niche
markets of people aspiring to an affluent lifestyle
59

Elizabeth Chacko & Paul Varghese

Alliance Group's 10 Downing Street are owned by

NRIs (Indo-Asian News Service, 2005). NRIs (both
first and second generation immigrants) who still
reside abroad are also investing in Indian real
estate, encouraged by an 8% growth rate in the
Indian economy since the early 2000s (Chishti,
2007).
Both India and the United States hold elements of home and community to these transnational migrants, whose lives and identities straddle
countries and cultures. Used to the amenities and
comforts of suburban life in the USA, the returning
migrants expect their homes to be high-quality built
environments, designed to be aesthetically pleasing, functional, safe, and responsive to their various
needs (Chacko, 2007). The GC offers to fulfill
these expectations.

open house international Vol 34, No.3, September 2009 Identity and Representations of Gated Communities in Bangalore, India

its whitewashed bungalows, parks, polo grounds

and cricket fields, earning the appellation of
"Garden City". Senior military personnel began
retiring to Bangalore in the early to mid-1900s,
attracted by its cool climate, lush greenery and
broad streets, and the city acquired the tag
"Pensioner's Paradise". While continuing to be a
popular retirement destination, Bangalore's potential as a modern industrial and commercial city was
cemented after India's independence in 1947,
when it became a site for major public and private
sector industries as well as centers of higher education and research. In the early 1990s, the liberalization of the Indian economy and increasing economic and social globalisation set the stage for
Bangalore's rising eminence in Information
Technology (IT) in the country, prompting its newest
soubriquet of "India's Silicon Valley" (Heitzman,
2004; Nair, 2005). From a city of 786,343 persons
in 65.86 square km in 1951, Bangalore expanded
in 2001 to a settlement of 531 square km housing
5.7 million (Census of India, 2001). During the
same period, it metamorphosed from a national
destination for development to an international
destination that was a favored location for offices of
multinational corporation (MNCs), returning NRIs
and foreign expatriates who were drawn to the
opportunities the city offered.
The establishment of gated industrial, business, commercial and office complexes in the city's
new technology and business parks marked the reinvention of Bangalore as an IT hub. Key to this
transformation was a skilled and educated local
labor force, but also Asian Indian managers and IT
professionals who returned to their country of origin
after spending years in Western countries such as
the United States (Chacko, 2007). Returning NonResident Indians (NRIs) run 95 percent of the international companies in the Software Technology
Parks (STPs) in Bangalore (Kapur, 2002), while
nearly a third of the employees working in R&D at
General Electric's John F Welch Technology Center
in the city are returnees from the United States
(Ryan, 2005), indications of their significance in the
city's new economy. This group of returning
migrants who are also transnational in their cultures
and connections are successfully targeted and
wooed by the developers of the high-end gated
developments, some of which have entered into
partnerships with real estate firms in developed
countries. It is telling that for example, 22 of a total
of 25 villas in Adarsh's Palm Vista enclave development and the majority of the 175 villas in the

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open house international Vol 34, No.3, September 2009 Identity and Representations of Gated Communities in Bangalore, India

Figure 1. An image from Adarsh Developers' e-Brochure (Reprinted by permission of the Adarsh Group)

and to seniors who are security conscious and wish

to live in a safe and comfortable setting, emphasizing ideas of identity and belonging. Lifestyle and
on-site amenities are also highlighted in the marketing of gated communities in Latin America but
due to the high levels of crime that includes robbery, assault, kidnapping and even murder, much
of it targeting the wealthy residents of its mega
cities, safety and security are especially underscored
in advertisements for GCs in this region (Coy,
2006). In the Western world, GC developments
and their advertisements often reflect the issues and
concerns raised in focus group discussions with
potential buyers and residents (Grant, 2005), but
this is not the case in the Indian context. While the
developers believed they were incorporating the
needs and desires of clients in their GCs, none
examined for this study had conducted focus
groups to identify particular needs or problems.
The online advertisements (both images and

Figure 2. Advertisement for the Royal Indian Raj's

Royal Garden Villas and Resort (Reprinted by permission of the Royal Indian Raj International
Corporation)
60

text) examined for this paper depict GCs as places

that offer a life of abundance, convenience, comfort, safety and luxury; peaceful, yet replete with a
plethora of exciting opportunities and leisure activities. Advertisements for Bangalore's GCs are overlaid with rhetoric and imagery that evoke an aura
of prestige and exclusivity (See Figure 1). Villas, single-family dwelling units set on individual lots are
the most expensive housing in these enclaves.
According to Archer (2005:52) the term "villa" conjures up images of landed wealth; dwellings by this
name in the 1700s and 1800s were geared
towards " harboring family, and safeguarding
retreat from the mercantile and political nexus, in
addition to facilitating leisure and social activities
that could involve a larger circle of people as well".
This description fits villas in Bangalore's
gated communities, a difference being that the
retreat is from the chaos of urban life to a more
ordered and controlled environment. The city's
upscale gated communities have the amenities of
similar enclaves in the developed world, such as
recreational spaces (tennis, badminton and squash
courts; swimming pools, gyms, children's playgrounds and even golf courses), meeting places for
the community (club houses, community halls,
pubs, libraries, restaurants, cafes and lounges) and
landscaped surroundings that include gardens, jogging trails, fountains and water bodies.
Aesthetics and "unique" architectural styles
are considered indicators of social distinction in the
GC. Most gated enclaves in Bangalore have eclectic designs that incorporate elements of international architecture and design, and idealized European
or American landscapes. In addition to landscaped
surroundings, gated developments in the city vie to
offer distinctive features that set them apart from

IMAGES OF THE GATED COMMUNITY

AS HOME
Views of home that are represented and enacted in

61

Elizabeth Chacko & Paul Varghese

the advertisements for gated communities are an

indication of the multiple and hybrid cultural identities to which the returnees subscribe. Aneesh
(2004:51) identifies a "continuous nostalgia for the
'other' nation" among Asian Indian computer programmers in the United States, a consequence of
eulogizing and remembering the best in the country where they are not physically present. Returning
migrants who have spent considerable time abroad
consider themselves at home both in their country
of origin and amongst a global community of
peers; they are variously "Indian", "international",
"global" and "cosmopolitan".
Advertisements specifically speak to the pull
of India and the global sensibilities of the returning
NRIs. Vakil Developers state in their online advertisements that their enclaves are planned "keeping in mind the globe trotting non-resident Indians
who would love to have a retreat in a haven of tranquility in India, while sustaining the luxurious
aspects of life that they have enjoyed abroad",
thereby simultaneously evoking images of home
and an international ambience. The Sobha Group
reminds its clients that it has experience catering to
global corporate customers and understands the
needs of those who have lived and worked abroad.
The advertisers appear to be aware of the transnational nature of their potential clients, all permitting
electronic booking of residences and some providing contact addresses and telephone and fax numbers not just in India, but in the United States and
the United Kingdom.
Home is more than a dwelling place. It is
often "associated with pleasant memories, intimate
situation, a place of warmth and protective security" (Somerville, 1992: 5). An advertisement for the
Springville GC notes that it is a place where the resident can go home to "enjoy all the serenity, safety, comfort and freedom you deserve." Aspects of
home that are underscored are those of safety and
security rather than lasting memories or warmth.
All the advertisements examined in this study list 24hour security as one of the amenities offered, a
point of concern among executives who are away
from home frequently. All note that entry to the
enclaves is guarded, some 40% state that the community is surrounded by high walls (usually 7 feet
high), 10% that the enclave is monitored by closed
circuit TV and one that it is patrolled around the
clock by armed guards.
Over 90% of the advertisements endorse the
notion of home as a refuge from the cares and
stresses of the outside world while some 62% speak

open house international Vol 34, No.3, September 2009 Identity and Representations of Gated Communities in Bangalore, India

similar enclaves. Chaitanya Projects' Oakville has

an "infinity pool", Vakil's Garden City has Mughalstyle gardens and Royal Indian Raj offers its residents a chateau winery, tennis courts designed by
Indian tennis star Vijay Amritraj and an 18-hole golf
course designed by golf pro Jack Niklaus (Figure
2). In particular, developers use unusual and striking non-indigenous touches such as cobbled walkways, a European-style "village" that serves as a
central place for the community and white picket
fences as unique markers.
Living in the exclusive environment of the GC
was depicted as an indicator of refinement, wealth
and prestige in all the advertisements examined. In
the online marketing of villas, the underlying text
was that the houses could be afforded only by those
of a high socio-economic class. While the size, style
and splendour of detached homes in Indian cities
have always been a testament to the status of their
owners and inhabitants, they also conveyed a sense
of individuality, as each home was specifically constructed for and in consultation with the home
owner. The predetermined and prescribed built
forms in gated communities seem to be extensions
of apartment living, overlooking the prospective
buyer's individuality and personal leanings in architectural style and facade, although in advertisements developers allude to the clients' good taste in
choosing to live in such elite locales.
The advertisements provide information on
desirable housing styles and lifestyles that are represented as exclusive, typical of the upper classes
and conducive to upward social mobility. An advertisement for Purva Parkridge indicates that its
patrons are "Royalty Revived", Concorde's Silicon
Valley GC is billed as providing a "Lifestyle worthy
of only a few", Vakil's Hosur Hills claims to be "The
best address in town", and an advertisement for
Ferns Builders' Cascading Meadows suggests that
all its residents are captains of industry and important players in the city's new economy. These claims
may not be hyperbolical. Residents of Adarsh Palm
Meadows are noted to be mostly high net-worth
individuals, with a reported 30-40% being high
ranking officials of multinational companies, industrial houses or successful IT start-up companies
(Sriram, 2007).

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open house international Vol 34, No.3, September 2009 Identity and Representations of Gated Communities in Bangalore, India

Figure 3. Advertisement for G.R. Developers' Greek

Agora (Reprinted by permission of G.R. Developers)

of the GC as a retreat to connect with family.

Chaitanya Builders states that their villas are built
around "The Jewel of a Home, the Family Hub."
However, home as a place is also commodified. It
is depicted as a space for the consumption of luxury goods and services, and as an excellent financial
investment. Since 2005 India has permitted foreign
investment of up to 100% in large construction projects, ushering in foreign investment in Indian real
estate and a proliferation of joint projects (IndoAsia News Service, 2005). Within the last five years,
the prices of villas in exclusive gated communities
have tripled and the rents quadrupled.
Approximately 25% of the advertisements draw
attention to the idea that luxury villas will escalate in
value and that prices of properties could double in
a few years.
PORTRAYING A SENSE OF
COMMUNITY
However, the process of place identity construction
is also firmly intertwined with a sense of community
identity in gated enclaves. Besides the obvious one
of similar economic standing, it is striking that the
high-end GC in Bangalore is depicted as an international place in its presentation and population,
and one in which common interests are nurtured
and pleasurable interactions with neighbors can
take place. The lifestyle in a GC has permitted the
formation of homogenized community that is based
on class, a departure from traditional Indian communities based on caste, kinship or religion. Royal
Indian Raj (2008) refers to the "couture community"
that their Italian-style villas will house, underscoring
62

an aura of exclusivity and internationalism. The

global cachet of GCs is reflected in advertisements,
over 75% of which boast of world class facilities or
design, infrastructure and fittings that meet international standards, and nearly 10% of which show
Western or white models in their artists renditions
and photographs. The IT industry in Bangalore is
known to have embraced a "global" corporate culture and its workers tend to be cosmopolitan and
globalised in their outlook (Upadhya and Vasavi,
2006). With a population of largely NRIs and expatriates, the demographic profile of high-end gated
communities echoes this international culture:
besides NRIs, some 15-20 nationalities are typically represented in the occupancy of villas in Adarsh
Palm Meadows (Sriram, 2007).
NOMENCLATURE OF GATED
COMMUNITIES
Cultures often identify their cherished histories
through memorializing important spaces and
events, or invoking important symbols and styles.
The near-absence of vernacular architecture in the
built environment of the gated enclaves and the
widespread adoption of the terminology of "villas",
"townhouses" and "condominiums" that is standard
in gated communities the world over, speak of the
supplanting of local built forms by those with a
global identity. Legacies from colonial times are
embedded in the built forms of gated communities
and in the socio-spatial structures of postcolonial
cities such as Bangalore. Colonial styles of residential architecture such as the bungalow were
emblematic of colonial power structures, while the
integration of such architecture in new communities
could reflect a desire to replicate the power configurations, with local and new elites replacing the
colonial powers in the hierarchy. The nomenclatures of some of the developments in Bangalore
such as the Alliance Group's 10 Downing Street,
the Vaswani Group's Astoria, or Golden Woods are
distinctly British. Such names and spaces identified
as "servants' quarters", 'foyers'," "parlours" or "powder rooms" may also evidence a desire to replicate
the settings of the privileged lives of former colonial
masters.
High-end GCs also reflect representations of
continental European locales ranging from the
classical (such as G.R. Developers' Greek Agora,
Figure 3) to the more contemporary stuccoed walls,
arches, low pitched roofs and red terracotta and tile

CONCLUSION
The discourse of GC advertising in Bangalore gives
us insights into the production of place and identity
as it relates to society. Advertising for the upscale
GC speaks to the physical setting and built landscape, the amenities, the assumed qualities of individuals and families who would live in these communities, and their expected social interactions and
lifestyles. Image production and demand for luxury
items and services are an outcome of socioeconomic relations and discursive practices in society.
From the advertisements, it is evident that the material forms of the built environments of GCs are
complemented by the social construction of image
and meaning of these enclaves both as home and
community and as settings for a global identity,
often at the expense of the local.
The power of metaphor lies in its ability to
invoke particular ideas and features through a
process that simultaneously highlights certain features and images while obscuring others. The
metaphors used in GC advertisements reflect the
cultural orientations of the targeted audiences. The
upscale gated community in Bangalore is represented in multiple ways: as a safe retreat from the
chaos of urban life, as an exclusive and comfortable locale where all material wants are provided;
as a place afforded with a sense of community.
Catering as they do to NRIs, the advertisements examined underscore the transnational identity of GC occupants, assuming multiple affiliations

Elizabeth Chacko & Paul Varghese

Figure 4. Entrance to Adarsh Palm Meadows gated

community (Photo by E. Chacko)

and simultaneous alignment with multiple places.

We submit that in today's world, especially for its
transnational denizens, "home" is a multifaceted
notion that has several meanings. India, Bangalore
and indeed the gated communities represent home
because these are the locales where the migrants'
families live and where traditions, connections and
norms are forged and maintained. But metaphors
of internationalization frequently raised in the
advertisements translate into property owners and
residents of GCs belonging to a privileged cosmopolitan and transnational community of peers
with a global culture, echoing the new global status of Bangalore.
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Authors Addresses:
Elizabeth Chacko & Paul Varghese
Geography and International Affairs
The George Washington University
1922 F Street, NW (Old Main)
Department of Geography,
Room 213
Washington, D.C. 20052
echacko@gwu.edu
paul@vsnl.com