Rich Ghettos: How Is Life In Gated Communities For The Wealthy? | ENDEVR Documentary

[Music] in this luxury car our Courtney and her husband Norman a television producer [Music] nice seeing you too we're so excited the couple are looking for a new house for them and their future children they have a very big budget six million dollars and a new close friend Kristen their estate agent Kristen full song wowing them today this is a beautiful 10 000 square foot home that's on the market for 5.5 million so let's go take a look perfect awesome it's this huge mansion 900 square meters across three levels it's very high end okay so the kitchen is super open great concept has abundant appliances and Kristen has another selling point the views Over Las Vegas Courtney is a huge fan so what do you think Ben these views are just breathtaking I love the views I love how open it is beautiful let's go look and see what else the Mansion has a vast array of luxury features and a master suite which is completely opened up to the outside imagine Saturday morning waking up opening this up and just enjoying the view with some coffee absolutely a great way to wake up the couple are already picturing themselves living here and the bathroom oh and there's a TV and the hue dressing room will definitely win over Courtney who seems to be loving it here already I love this her yeah Keith it's so nice you can lay out all your stuff she likes it I'm happy happy wife happy life this and the showstopper so you've got this beautiful infinity pool overlooking the strip Norman and Courtney seem Spellbound The View and the luxury of course but that's not all they have visited this Mansion because it is located in a gated community a secure estate a private property with forbidden access to non-residents and extreme security we've got two entrances they're both guard gated 24 hours a day we have two guards at each station and then we also have broken security that's 24 hours security is precisely what inhabitants in gated communities are looking for Norman and Courtney are no exception living in a gated community is of high priority in our lives and we're not interested in looking at houses outside of a community no just because we travel and I like knowing that there's a guard at the front I don't have to worry about my home the couple will also be able to make the most of a large number of luxurious facilities is there a fitness facility these or anything like that on this property yes so in addition to the clubhouse we have a whole tennis and athletic center oh wow and there's basketball courts the whole fitness center has massage and spa and a great Pilates studios with tons of reformers and great equipment top of the line oh that is so exciting didn't like that I would love that Americans are opting for these gated communities more and more but they aren't the only ones more and more these secure Estates are appearing across the globe and are shaping new residences of the future [Music] gated communities they are the new housing Trend entire private neighborhoods under high protection sometimes spanning several hundreds of hectares and generally reserved for the super rich [Music] this is our most expensive lot that we have in McDonald Highlands it's on the market for 6.3 million dollars so just for the look just for the lot residents here live a life of luxury which is very exclusive and difficult to attain without lots of money quiet you don't have to fight for your machines in America in certain States almost half of new constructions are in gated communities seen as ghettos for the rich the residences here are self-segregated from the outside world it's an upscale community so the people have the money to do a lot of extracurricular things to travel to play sports you know golf what is it we enjoy doing this trend of self-segregation is also developing in France among celebrities and the richest in society like villamborazi which is home to small gems within the heart of Paris or par de montretu the oldest gated community in sankclu in the Paris region but the peace and security of these areas are now attracting more modest social classes which can sometimes create conflict in certain neighborhoods [Music] barriers in the middle of town which the neighbors now have to make their way around for several years these unusual housing Estates have been constructed in other countries like Bulgaria where the most well-off are trading often dilapidated buildings in favor of secure detached houses behind the scenes businessmen have sniffed out the huge Market opportunity and are ready to profit from any opportunity guys waiting outside and we with the cash boxes for several months we managed to infiltrate these extremely closed off ghettos for the rich an investigation into the golden prisons Behind These fences which Tower like never before Las Vegas located in Nevada in the U.S this city is best known for its big hotels casinos slot machines and its overall wow factor it attracts 36 million visitors each year [Music] however it's not just tourists here in the middle of the desert there are almost 600 000 people who live in Las Vegas year round it's in fact the most populated city in Nevada yet on a daily basis the locals often want to escape all this excitement to live a calmer life far from the strip so a gated community is the perfect option at McDonald Highlands one of the largest and most luxurious residential neighborhoods in the city round-the-clock security is the number one priority here the 1500 residents have an electronic beeper which grants them easy entry but the cleaners gardeners and workers are forced to sit in a traffic jam each morning and are required to show their IDs pull up a little bit more and like all mornings it's Billy who screens the visitors sir your company first each employee must State the address they're visiting so we just click on Silver Lake admit the entry condition is that you must be on the list of guests established by the owners a list which Billy accesses from his miniature computer but that's not all he's still going to take additional precautions [Music] number three e 604 I scan their ID makes it a lot faster make sure the pitcher comes out nice and clear for each visitor Billy registers the car's license plate number and scans their driving license before issuing this pass throughout the pass and the idea at the same time it's data collection taken to the extreme Unthinkable in Europe and when visitors aren't on the pre-established guest list Billy takes no risks and calls the residents directly hi it's Billy at the Stephanie gate I have a Raphael construction here working with your birdie construction for you they're doing the remodel work over there do you want to put them on for two weeks or just call you every day two weeks these tedious controls have just one goal protecting the private neighborhood's Rich residents the people who live in here are worth a lot of money we have people who run major corporations we have a few celebrities some you know pro football players basketball players you know baseball players and they don't want people coming in here you know paparazzi's and taking pictures and driving around the community when they're not supposed to be here that's the purpose of living in a gated community they want their privacy so it's a secure and private life for residents and a full screening for visitors welcome to the McDonald Highlands neighborhood behind these fences over 1500 people lead a peaceful life out of sight in a neighborhood that feels like the epitome of luxury 400 hectares designed around an 18-hole golf course with a view over the strip [Music] 500 high-class houses worth up to 20 million dollars a swimming pool a gym tennis courts and even a private club with a bar and two restaurants [Music] a small village in the middle of the desert where Ken CEO of a large construction firm in Nevada and his wife Michelle live they've lived here for 10 years and every day make the most of their gated community beautiful morning their day begins at Sunrise with a morning Sports session there's no need to leave their secure neighborhood where there's a private fitness center reserved just for residents right by their house where are they at there they are how are you good to see you guys good you guys ready ready don't kill us three times a week they call on Alex their personal trainer who can be hired from the Gated Community for fifty dollars an hour on the agenda today is boxing weight lifting and some other strenuous exercises but Michelle and Ken love coming to train here in this private Fitness Suite usually if you're in a regular workout room there's a lot of people and if you're doing sets you might have to wait for a machine in the middle of your set which is an inconvenience okay good a semi-deserted fitness center personal trainers on call and that's not all at 8am Michelle's sporting day has barely even begun after a romantic workout Ken leaves for work as for Michelle she has changed clothes she meets up with her friends for a game of tennis still within the gated community first they hit some balls with a coach [Music] got it before playing a doubles match very aggressive Marty one hour in the fitness center with her husband the next hitting balls with her friends good get Marty Michelle who was a housewife doesn't have time to get bored thanks to her gated community she's doing activities Non-Stop good job all right that's it girls thank you appreciate it a few hours later she's in her third outfit of the day this time for an all-female golf tournament organized that afternoon just a few meters away from her home just across the street it's the middle of the week yet there's a crowd made up of just the housewives living here and they have not only come to learn how to play golf [Music] I will definitely meet new people here because there's a lot of people here that I don't know this is what you expect yeah it just gives you an opportunity to know more people [Music] quite rightly Michelle needs to find a partner for this round of golf it will be this lady Natalie she also lives in the neighborhood the two women didn't know each other before but they've already found something in common I am really a beginner my husband's like we gotta get coffee I'm like all right get going perfect so this is why we're here this is two beginners who share a few holes and end up getting to know each other [Music] my babies are 23. I have twin boys what are they are they nearby that your kids are no um my one of my youngest just graduated from UNR and is moving to South Carolina one in Houston one in Utah and one in California [Applause] socializing doing sport meeting new people all without ever having to leave the Gated Community Michelle cannot see herself living anywhere else no not anymore um just because when you live in a gated community you're insured there isn't going to be a lot of noise everything the Landscaping the roads the lighting everything will be kept up there's a little bit more security and then you have all these amenities so why would I live anywhere else I don't think I would and even in the evening Michelle and Ken never have to go far to meet for a drink [Music] an opportunity to spend time with other members of the estate Ken and Michelle's Neighbors acquaintances or friends who clearly share the couple's interests [Music] rather elitist Sports and confidence in lucrative Investments [Music] here you can talk about big money without taboo for in this luxury residence all neighbors have the same living standard they are business heads investors or high-level Sports people high-powered people who clearly do not want to mix with ordinary people people that live around you and you aren't do the things you want to do and you stay home or you find people who are like-minded who are at the same level of Financial Security I guess you'd say that can afford to do some of the extra things in life that we enjoy doing and that's that's what we find here is most of the people here can afford to go on a vacation or can afford to take a tennis lesson or take up golf thank you [Music] guys there's an instilled sense of self-seclusion but to live here co-owners must sign this document upon arrival internal rules which are very strict and six pages long among the instructions are it is forbidden for children under 14 to walk around alone skateboards and scooters are prohibited no noise after 10 pm during the week or midnight on Saturdays and houses must respect very precise specifications subject to a committee and we will see that the owners are not interested in Breaking these rules [Music] year round the McDonald Highlands neighborhood employs 80 people including gardeners in charge of maintaining the green spaces and security guards and among them are Paul and Lisa employees at the association of property owners they have a very specific task in the community making sure that the houses are well taken care of down to the Last Detail once a month they go around the estate to report any offenses committed by the property owners looks like he hasn't taken his Christmas lights down no peace don't expect huge crimes here they put right the tiniest issues Christmas lights must come down the first offense of the day Christmas decorations in the middle of May it seems trivial but it is banned so for the these lights in particular there's a written rule that says you have a certain amount of days before and after the holiday to put up your traditional lighting then you got to take it back down it might be 30 days before and 30 days after the holiday that you're allowed to do temporary lighting Lisa takes photos to send to the owners of this house with a letter asking them to take the decorations down not done within three months they will have to pay a fine it depends on the infraction for these type of violations for property maintenance they assess fines of fifty dollars every seven days so we can't assess a fine more than a hundred dollars every seven days the fines range between fifty and a hundred dollars every week until the problem is resolved we can get them a letter note and that's the case for all kinds of small offenses like damaged fences yeah this one's really rusted out dead palm tree leaves Palm fronds that need to be removed at this property yeah a hole in the wall [Music] where's that right hole in the wall they haven't fixed yet in total that morning these Aesthetics police have reported a dozen offenses if all the properties are kept looking nice it helps maintain the value of your own property so yes it's just Aesthetics and it's not a big deal but it's a response to people who had neighbors who wouldn't take care of things that aren't a big deal they choose to live in an association area and they choose to live in a gated communities the residents have accepted these strict rules they've even got themselves a highway patrol to keep an eye on them [Music] not far away a car patrols all day long Larry who's 71 is the most senior member of the employees and head of security you gotta try not to block things this sheriff-like employee takes his role very seriously he rules over a network of several dozen kilometers of private streets you need to move your truck on the other side he spends his day ensuring that the residents and employees respect the rules the rules our parking is sidewalk side once you get your equipment unloaded I need you to be over here how about I just park in our apartment that's fine thanks a small reminder but Larry does not settle for playing good cop a few meters ahead he settles down to do a speed control and to do that he draws out his fatal weapon a mobile radar and bit of patience in the community speed is limited to 20 miles an hour [Music] [Music] this white car is driving at 33 miles an hour the offense is noted but there will not be a Pursuit so as not to disturb the neighborhood however Larry will get all information about the offender with a simple phone call [Music] yeah Jane he calls the people who register all of the information on those who enter the community you have a wide focus with California plates come through remember as a security measure the driver's ID the number plate and the model of her car are recorded on Entry as a result Larry's colleague has all the necessary information who is she again the name address license plate number all you need to send a fine to this housemate she does not live in the community however she will not escape this completely legal find got it the cost of this fine is forty dollars and residents can also be charged are we here no why I don't like to be told what to do that's me personally you like to tell people what they have to do but you don't have why do you think I'm the boss rules that must be followed to the letter and a few extra charges in order to live in this community you have to pay all of these security guards activities infrastructure maintaining 400 hectares and a pleasant Green Golf Course in the middle of the desert it all costs a lot of money so you're paying the bills Michelle and Ken like all of the other residents are co-owners of the common spaces so to maintain everything they pay fees to the co-owners association each month the first bill is three hundred and forty dollars per month for maintaining communal areas and security next Ken and Michelle have a 300 monthly subscription to enjoy the sports facilities and still it is required to be a member or to have a membership when you're when you buy a house in the in the neighborhood this 300 membership is compulsory and it's not the only expense demanded by McDonald Highlands so then at the club we have a food and beverage minimum that we have to spend it is three hundred dollars per quarter and so we have to either eat at the club and spend our three hundred dollars you know on food there or if you don't spend it they'll charge you that anyways in total each month they must spend at least seven hundred and forty dollars and the same goes for all 500 homeowners so each year McDonald's Highlands collects 4.5 million dollars to look after everything more than 10 million Americans have chosen this way of life but the U.S isn't the only place where these gated communities exist the concept has even been around in France since the 19th century [Music] communities were created here in the Paris region the oldest is the poctum on paris's higher land Napoleon III was its first resident a century before the Le Pan family and now an oscar-winning actor in the center of Paris many industry tycoons and Showbiz stars live in the famous Villa mon moransi in the 16th Avenue or in the newest gated community The Villa granell in the seventh arundismo but in France you no longer need to be extremely rich to live behind fences in the south of France Marseille holds the record number of gated communities attractions like the old Port the Basilica and the velodrome make it a nice place to live but the Mediterranean town is also one of serious violence drug dealing and is the capital of organized crime for 40 years more than 1500 gated communities have been built in Marseille [Music] in the ninth avondismont a residential area is although it's not a high luxury Community four years ago in a general meeting the co-owners voted for the area to be closed off with eight fences now there are around 100 homes there which are often stylish but far from the huge american-style mansions however here too access is forbidden to strangers and to cameras as well we attempt nevertheless to understand why these co-owners want to close off their community is robberies anti-social Behavior this is what must have pushed the residents to close themselves off marseille's ninth arundism however is not known for its crime so could there perhaps be other reasons which led them to put up fences [Music] for Julian Dario a geographical researcher who specializes in gated communities in Marseille security could in fact just be an excuse is no more need to share parking spaces calmer less traffic in short improving life's comfort as well as security but how are the Quan Jolie residents able to close off an entire neighborhood to understand let's go to the Mr University with Julian Dario the researcher after five years of field work he knows the town and its gated communities like the back of his hand um 1500 gated communities in Marseille that's almost 15 percent of the land is in 50 years fenced-off areas have multiplied in Marseille completely legally for certain areas were already private built since the 30s by developers at the town's request following a housing emergency foreign so decades later the residents are entitled to do this is [Music] however the procedure is relatively simple a request to the mayor which is usually granted since in France property rights are unrestricted Leonel Roya pero is the mayor of the 9th and 10th around this month in Marseille try to oppose fencing off the guangzhouli area the community in the 9th avondismont but in reality there's nothing he can do [Music] um and these closures could well structure Marseille foreign Network must be maintained by the residents from now on and that's not all every time an area is closed the mayor must deal with it [Music] is [Music] in spite of these additional costs residents in guangzhouli have kept the fences however not all of them are in favor during the vote at the general meeting six homeowners opposed it Fabien lives in this house in kwangioli having lived here for 24 years she has always been against setting up fences [Music] [Music] first a gate at the end of her Road and a few meters further another completely sealed barrier fixed posts anti-intrusion spikes and no pedestrian access a question is self-segregation that Fabienne does not support at all the eight fences which surround her community have turned her daily life upside down [Music] [Music] the children Fabienne is talking about are students from neighboring areas to use these streets in the mornings and evenings to get to school but since it's been closed off access has become much more complicated [Music] has been living in a house outside the gates and the closed community for 12 years five years ago she found out about the construction of this gate at the end of her Road since then her day-to-day life has changed especially when she walks her son Silva to school for seven years Sarah cut through the kwangioli neighborhood to drop her son off at school huh [Music] now she has to go around kwajioli and follow a rather unexpected route across this collapsed wall every morning [Music] [Music] frustrated residents poly impractical dangerous path which has been left abandoned for years [Music] foreign the other side is the route which goes around the gated community a pretty long way but more importantly it's even more dangerous a few hours later at the end of school she agrees to show us the root she fears foreign and for good reason it's a real source of stress for this mother is [Music] Sarah has felt excluded since the installment of these fences they have become a headache even for certain Juan Jolie residents [Music] we met up with Fabian again inside the Gated Community today she's invited friends around for a cup of tea at her home just four people but it takes a lot of work [Music] foreign [Music] the first guest is her mother and she has to open the gate for her voila is Fabienne goes out to greet her mother so as to avoid a tedious procedure [Music] is something that Fabienne does not wish to inflict on her mother Anaconda the other guests won't enjoy this preferential treatment they must use the intercom [Music] we and each time Fabienne has to re-explain the whole procedure hello [Music] and open the gate remotely [Music] the whole process is rather absurd until finally she can enjoy tea with her friends and her guests don't understand this system either um is living hidden away protected the Gated Community model is developing across the world [Music] the trend has even spread to Eastern countries and the market is proving to be very lucrative like in Bulgaria after 40 years under communism the country joined the European Union [Music] in its capital Sophia are 1.4 million residents and Europe's lowest minimum wage at 235 Euros per month although the Town Center definitely doesn't lack charm the buildings are often worn down and degraded Yvonne who's 45 years old is the vice president of the Sophia Municipal Council every day to go to work he goes through Sofia and the area where he used to live so this is where we used to live in this entrance at the top at the roof of the building he and his wife lived right here in the center of town in a small apartment with a balcony on the top floor of this building the main issues that it's a very busy street so it was packed with traffic packed with cars now it looks like a highway noise traffic jams and the Pavements here are far from the sanitized streets of gated communities you see all those ugly payments when you have a small kid or or a stroller to to carry the baby this is really not the perfect way you you expect to have your payment it's funny to admit for this municipality official Yvonne has even opted for a change of environment even if it means turning his back on his town he has moved to 10 or so kilometers from the center of Sophia into this totally gated community in the American Style with fences cameras and security guards exactly like in the United States [Music] along with their son Alexander have bought their dream apartment 196 meters squared and a big Garden which is nearly 300 meters squared [Music] finally I feel a big relief because first of all we were living in a much smaller apartment with all these toys and things we were really you know full and packed with many staff so now it's it's really big relief to move in something something big and it's a well-suited apartment for having friends over like this French couple who arrived the previous day this morning Yvonne and svovada offered them a tour of their new paradise and here is the most important part for them up to three secure accesses with barriers and guards at the gate the security that Yvonne appreciates even more now that he is a dad if you don't have children and you don't have to worry about anything else having a security with the barriers and lifeguards they actually watch around they have cameras at night they're watching the the perimeter that's not all the residence is overflowing with facilities by saying Fitness [Music] yoga massage offices a fitness center with a pool football pitches and basketball courts but also there is a nursery a hair salon a variety of shops and restaurants and even a chapel all within a gated community it's a real man-made Village so it's like living in a big hotel in a way it's like living in a small town in the Big Town yes that's probably the perfect explanation a town in which everyone has the same standard of living a really quite comfortable one people who have a very busy day life people who have their uh professional careers most of the people are working in multinational companies there are people working in the banks in the insurance business in the transportation Construction and there's even a VIP living here the house over there is probably the biggest house he become very busy with his professional career and then he become a minister and then president this man is Rosen prevneliev the president of Bulgaria from 2012 to 2017. [Music] powerful and highly influential neighbors security shops Yvonne no longer wants to leave this life of comfort are you going out of the year one hour we are going now I don't know I still have things to do at home you don't want to leave it no however to live here and benefit from the security and comfort they must pay for it each month Yvonne and svobada pay around 300 Euros that's a huge amount in Bulgaria it's more than the local minimum wage and svobada is a bit uneasy about broaching the issue why we are talking about prizes speak about lifestyle we are going to speak about Community 300 Euros in charges that's twice her mother's pension svobada struggles to accept it in fact for Ivan and svobada it is tough to openly accept what they spend for a comfortable life in this country which has historically remained quite poor this man knew how to make a profit from the newly Rich he's the owner of residential Park his offices look over the community giorgiranchev is a property developer a Pioneer in gated communities in Bulgaria however he began with very different constructions the residential Park is just our second largest project where we started more than 20 years ago is the business park software Business Park an entire area of offices made up of modern buildings for the time the first building was the yellow one actually and from there it started and then we developed building by building adding more and more office space and more and more clients as a result hundreds of businesses moved there on the outskirts of Sofia fifteen thousand people work there but they are far from their homes and the center of town by talking to all the people and the business guys from the community it came the idea that they would like to live nearby because of the traffic because of the jumps because of the parking problems and we started um acquiring plots this is how the idea for the Gated Community was born a small town for the executives of these companies with housing shops and all the necessary comforts [Music] today Georgie's Company still owns the land with the exception of the houses so he manages the residents like a small business one of his tasks is maintaining the communal spaces [Music] today with his associate he wants to do up the community's shared spaces beginning with the empty land next to the chapel foreign he wants to install some small covered benches but the problem is that these installations which are over two meters tall come at a price a bench like this is um 10 000 Euros probably we are willing to invest something between 30 40 000. every year Georgie invests 1 million euros into the residents taking special care of his 1600 residents whom he doesn't want to lose because his success has created rivalry and for several months a competitor has been copying Georgie's idea just a few meters away from residential Park is a huge building site another Community with offices sports centers restaurants and even a school so behind the scenes Georgie is preparing a counter-attack he has decided to build a whole new residence just a bit further from the center [Music] today the businessman has met with his associates on the new land which he has bought 20 kilometers from Sofia [Music] he'd like to work out the appearance of the final project in more concrete terms [Music] his Architects give a tour it has to be said that at the moment it's rather difficult to picture a huge residence here on this vast land uh it's a bit in the middle of nowhere yes it is more or less yes from the very beginning it was the same location in the middle of nowhere it was even worse I think in the residential park there was nothing just a big tree he wanted this land so much that he negotiated with Farmers accepting their rather surprising conditions square meters cash 200 000 views cash why they wanted to to see the cash these were guys from The Villages from German from lausanne and they didn't trust anybody it's like local Village People a lot of cash and some cold sweat and I'm 10 o'clock in the night it was in the basement and then everybody 100 guys waiting outside and we with the cash in boxes and I say what do we do if this guy doesn't come and I'm with the boxes with the cash at the end he came and in one hour a week spread with the cash they counted it went away happy Georgie seems sure of himself it must be said that this land has a huge asset its location it's going to be extended and we're going to connect to it and there is an existing road now once the rink road is going to to expand it's going to be very fast to go downtown an expressway leading into the center of Sofia just next to the Future gated community it's clearly worth it three years before the first houses are built clients are already rushing currently we have sold as reservations more than 100 houses out of 136 we are signing like 5 to 10 reservations per week so by the end of June everything we believe if we keep the same speed would be booked a full house since filming all of the Project's new homes have been reserved

Channel: ENDEVR

Views: 889,567

Keywords: Free documentary, documentaries, full documentary, hd documentary, documentary - topic, documentary (tv genre), Business Documentary, super rich, luxury lifestyle, wealth documentary, gated community, social inequality, income inequality, economic inequality, gated community tour, macdonald highlands, lives of the super rich, rich people, rich vs poor, income inequality and poverty, luxury lifestyle videos, gated community house tour, luxury lifestyle documentary

Id: 0KMlDzaths8

Length: 53min 19sec (3199 seconds)

Published: Sun Jul 16 2023