Behind Closed Doors; The appeal of gated communities is spreading across the world.(All over the world, high-end planned communities are springing up)(Cover story)

Byline: Owen Matthews

Along the Rublevo-Uspenskoye highway outside Moscow, a riotous jumble of mansions poke out from above the high fences: the gabled mansards of French chateaux, the pointed tops of Gothic castle towers and baroque dormer windows--all built a decade ago by a generation of Russians who had plenty of money but a deficit of taste. Venture a little farther afield, however, and you'll see something altogether more harmonious: new, gated developments like Benelux, where northern European-style cottages nestle among landscaped paths and newly planted mature trees, and Knazhiye Ozero, where discreet, chaletlike mansions surround a small lake. For up-and-coming Moscow millionaires, over-the-top mini-estates are out; understated, self-contained, luxury communities are in.

And not just in Moscow. All over the world, high-end planned communities are springing up, driven by demand from wealthy customers who want to live not only in luxurious homes but in luxurious environments, among their own. From Florida to Mumbai, Istanbul to Dubai, developers are creating small utopias where the wealthy will feel at home. Having equally rich neighbors is only part of it; gated communities often provide a clubhouse-like social center with a restaurant and fitness club, private woods for walking the dog, in-house nursery schools and maybe even a golf course--not to mention a discreet but armed security detail to keep undesirables away. "People are looking for somewhere private with all amenities on site," says Alexei Temnov, who markets real estate in and around Moscow for Knight Frank to clients willing to pay up to $20 million for a property. Today there are about 500 luxury communities around Moscow, estimates Temnov, with more springing up monthly.

The idea is to create a wealthy model village. Rublyovo-Arkhangelskoye, a new $3 billion development three kilometers outside the Moscow ring road, bills itself as "a complete urban environment." It will boast a faux-medieval Citadel where, in the words of its glossy brochure, "musicians entertain and street artists add color to the surroundings"; an old town of pseudo-European shopping ...