Planned community is a little neighborhood within a community with builders building several different types of homes. You can go and see the models and pick out your upgrades. The community is generally maintained from a budget that is met by resident contributions or fees known as homeowner fees or HOA fees. These fees generally pay for landscaping and street and path maintenance.
The advantages of this type of community are that residents do not need to wait until the property tax dollars they pay actually reach the community to pay for landscaping and other things that make the community look good. Tax dollars will generally pay for infrastructure development first. With new developments springing up all over the place, tax assessments may not be carried out immediately. This is a very useful way to ensure there are dollars available to maintain the community and not let it get down trodden and reduce property values.
Some planned communities may be also gated. The homeowners association will generally be more expensive there.
All in all, there are numerous Internet resources available to you to help you investigate communities that you are considering moving or relocating to.