街區制 (jiēqū zhì): Open communities

Volunteers from HSBC Bank (China) Co Ltd help a senior citizen in a community in Shanghai in August 2014. Provided To China Daily

The Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council, China's Cabinet, issued a guideline on Sunday to stop the building of new walled residential communities and remove the walls of existing communities to let the roads within walled communities be opened up and added to the public road system.

The measure aims to ease the traffic pressure in many Chinese cities.

As walled residential communities have been cut off from the traffic network, opening up walled communities so their roads become part of city's road networks will improve overall urban efficiency. It is regarded as a better way to use urban land and improve urban road networks.

But the guideline also triggered heated public discussion on the Internet. Many residents have expressed concerns about their safety and property rights if communities are opened up.

Some people say opening up communities should be decided by the owners of the communities.

Experts suggest that the government should clearly define which roads are to be included in the public road system, and which are private roads within the communities.