Those spread-type bamboo can spread and and fill up the area if you
give them enough
water. And the spread-type bamboo can live in a relatively cold area
(such as zone-6
in USA). But you need to contain it using some kind of heavy gauge
plastic/rubber
edging material and place it very deep into the ground (may be 3-feet
or deeper?)
Check the web site called bamboodirect.com to see the details about
this kind of
heavy duty edging material. According to a TV show that showed this,
this is a
labor-intensive work with multiple strong men placing the heavy duty
edging material
in place. This doesn't look like a DIY kind of job unless you have
many young friends
who can help. Your friend needs to figure out if the cost of the
bamboo itself and the
labor cost is too high for him; he may or may not want to do this, and
he may decide
to get some evergreen trees instead of bamboo.

If you are in a warm zone, you may try non-spreading bamboo. They may
actually be
a better bamboo for screening a property because they are supposed to
grow thick and
bushy. And your friend will not need to put in those heavy gauge
edging material to
contain them.

Jay Chan