China Plans to Tear Down Walls of Gated Condos and Let Public In
- Drive for compact cities to boost growth and curb pollution
- As many as 90 percent of city-dwellers are in walled compounds
Goodbye to Gates: China Plans to Tear Down Walls
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For years, Ji Ping has put up with Beijing’s smog, traffic and high prices, but this could be the last straw. A government plan threatens to pull down the walls of her gated community and maybe even drive a public road through its manicured gardens.
"There are already so many things I’m not happy about here," says Ji, 48, whose 21-year-old daughter studies in the U.S. "The environment, the smog. Many of my friends have left already. Now I’m thinking about leaving too."