Sounds like people feel secure, with law and order. The first thing you see in a less developed place is everything shut up tight. Even poor people have something that can be taken, like their children, or their bodily safety.
I’m visiting South Africa right now and this country feels like a military base. The amount of security, electric fences, and on-call “tactical response” vehicles is just bonkers. Needless to say, not many windows visible from the road behind 12-ft electrified perimeter walls.
From how SA is described, sounds edgy all right. Not the place you'd want to be seen in your/spouse/kids PJs through the front window.