It’s interesting to note that there are several urban habitats in the USA where they have ‘gated communities’. That means, the entrance to such communities, mostly in the urban centres, are restricted. Each property owner has a sticker on his car that is scanned by a sensor at the entrance, which allows the gate to be opened automatically. While on the exit, a pressure sensitive device that is activated when the car nears the exit is activated and allows the gates to be opened for exit.
Anyone who wants to enter the community will have to stop near the entrance at the console. He then punches the button against the name of the person he wants to contact. That activates the telephone in the house concerned. He finds out who is calling and then pushes a button that activates the gate, which opens automatically. Thus only authorised persons can enter the community, not trespassers or those who want to use the community road to take a short cut.
For the pedestrians, a separate gate at both the sides of the roads are put up. Here again, the person who wants to go out or come into the community has to punch the appropriate sequence of buttons to open the gate. That means only those authorised to enter the community can do so by knowing the code for operating the manual gate.
Obviously, there is no watchman or sentry to regulate the persons or vehicles that could enter the community. It’s all automatic and self-regulated without adding any additional cost burden to the community. Most community members living in such a gated enclosure approve of such restrictions. Only a few within the community and, of course, uninvited persons chaff at such restrictions. But overall, such gate communities have come to stay. Whether such an arrangement would work in our societal milieu needs discussion and trial before such devices could be fitted. There are a few housing complexes that have already adopted the concept of a gated community with encouraging results.