File photo shows the gate of Renmin University of China in Beijing.
(ECNS) -- Five universities in Beijing will take the lead in carrying out the central government's push to open-up gated communities to ease urban ills including traffic congestion, local media reported.
The five prestigious universities -- Renmin University of China, University of Science Technology Beijing, Beijing Institute of Technology, China University of Political Science and Law, and Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics -- have begun piloting the effort.
All located in the capital's Haidian District, the universities have already repainted road lines to optimize the transport network, according to the report.
Efforts include eliminating dead-end roads, making transit easier for through traffic and improving connections around the universities.
The Communist Party of China Central Committee and the State Council, or the cabinet, issued a guideline for the city's development on Feb. 21requiring roads in new residential developments to be open to the public, becoming part of the urban traffic system. It also said older communities should gradually connect their internal roads to public streets.
The policy became controversial because knocking down walls and opening gates might violate the country's property laws.
The Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development later said the government would not take a one-size-fits-all approach to opening up gated communities to integrate them with the public road system. The ministry stressed that the legal rights of residents will be protected.
In one effort in March, a road winding through Sanlihe of Xicheng District, where the Ministry of Finance and other governmental departments are located, was expanded from 5 meters to 18 meters wide to become a secondary access road.
