Editing Drawbridge mentality (section)

{{Distinguish|Siege mentality}}

[[File:Lagos48.jpg | thumb | right | alt=Entrance with drawbridge; Forte da Ponta da Bandeira; Lagos, Portugal | Drawbridge in Lagos, Portugal]]
'''Drawbridge mentality''', also known as '''fortress mentality'''<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Hillier |first1=Jean |title=Metropolis now: planning and the urban in contemporary Australia |last2=McManus |first2=P. A. |publisher=[[Pluto Press]] |year=1994 |isbn=9781864030143 |pages=91–101 |chapter=Pull up the drawbridge: fortress mentality in the suburbs}}</ref> is a [[Conservatism|conservative]] and [[Opposition to immigration|anti-immigrant]] attitude of prior [[Immigration|immigrants]] in an established community. Drawbridge mentality can encompass denying immigration to people, businesses and also denying building developments which could facilitate immigration, such as affordable housing. The conflict of drawbridge mentality often emerges between city councils which wish to expand, and residents concerned about losing property value or other economic or political assets.

It is often unclear whether the intention of certain policies is to achieve a drawbridge mentality, or if the policies have other economic or political goals. For example, [[Impact fee|impact fees]] reduce immigration by raising entry costs, but can also be argued to offset lowering property taxes.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Bauman |first1=Gus |last2=Ethier |first2=William H. |date=July 1987 |title=Development Exactions and Impact Fees: A Survey of American Practices |url=http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00947598.1987.10395091 |journal=Land Use Law & Zoning Digest |language=en |volume=39 |issue=7 |pages=3–11 |doi=10.1080/00947598.1987.10395091 |issn=0094-7598|url-access=subscription }}</ref> The drawbridge mentality can allow governments or communities to avoid providing [[humanitarian aid]] to immigrants by denying responsibility entirely.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=O'Lear |first=Shannon |date=1997 |title=Migration and the Environment: A Review of Recent Literature |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/42864357 |journal=Social Science Quarterly |volume=78 |issue=2 |pages=606–618 |jstor=42864357 |issn=0038-4941}}</ref> 

The term can imply a selfish attitude and can be taken as an insult, and it often overlaps with the [[NIMBY|Not in My Back Yard]] attitude.<ref>{{cite news |date=16 July 1994 |title=Orange County perspective: That Drawbridge Mentality |newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]] |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-07-16-me-16220-story.html}}</ref> The drawbridge mentality is one of many ways in which residents can respond to change, viewed as conservatively preserving the existing status quo. 

There are many different reasons for immigration, for example due to ecological collapse by droughts and famine caused by physical and climate changes, floods, cyclones, and other natural disasters.<ref>Raleigh, Clionadh, Lisa Jordan, and Idean Salehyan. "Assessing the impact of climate change on migration and conflict." ''paper commissioned by the World Bank Group for the Social Dimensions of Climate Change workshop, Washington, DC''. 2008.</ref> There are also other economic and political factors motivating immigration. However, drawbridge mentality not generally concerned about the reason for immigration. Instead, the main focus is on social and economic effects of immigration like the changing [[urban density]], [[Property value|property values]], predominant lifestyles and cultures, and whether these changes are desirable for existing residents.