Formulating strategic direction for a gated residential community

Abstract

Purpose

Over the past two decades, a growing number of Americans have decided to live in gated residential communities. Academic research and case studies tend to focus on explaining this growth phenomenon from a range of perspectives, yet surprisingly little has been written about the preservation and growth of existing gated communities. In response to this gap in the literature, the purpose of this paper is to illustrate the use of strategic planning as a means of addressing issues that pertain to sustaining and growing gated residential communities.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper applies principles of strategic management to the process of planning for residential preservation and growth. The residential context is a golf‐focused gated community located in the mountains of western North Carolina. It uses focus groups as a qualitative means of identifying important strategic issues. These issues serve as the basis for designing a survey for community residents. The survey results provide quantitative information that enables development of strategies targeted toward preservation and growth of the community.

Findings

Results from this paper suggest that traditional strategic planning techniques provide an effective method that common interest housing developments can use to help identify and respond to issues affecting their viability and growth.

Originality/value

This paper applies strategic planning techniques as a new area in the residential planning literature.

Citation

Pouder, R.W. and Dana Clark, J. (2009), "Formulating strategic direction for a gated residential community", Property Management, Vol. 27 No. 4, pp. 216-227. https://doi.org/10.1108/02637470910979989