Not in my compound: Beijing’s middle class homeowners balk at idea of opening up gated communities
City planners say opening up exclusive developments to public roads for make more efficient use of land and ease traffic
A security guard in a black overcoat watches carefully as pedestrians and cars pass in front of one of four gates to Purple Jade Villas, one of Beijing’s upmarket gated compounds.
“Sorry, this is private, outsiders’ cars aren’t allowed in,” he says politely to a woman driving a red Mercedes who, after a brief conversation, drives away.
This is one of the few villa areas close to the city centre – located about 5km from the iconic “Bird’s Nest” stadium, the sprawling 66-hectare four-gate compound on the busy northern section of the Fourth Ring Road enclosed in iron fences almost three metres high, behind which lie rows of trees and four-metre berms.
Purple Jade’s modern opulence might be new, its exclusivity is not. While compounds such as courtyard houses have been a common feature in Beijing for centuries, the first gated communities appeared in China in the 1950s. The former were neighbourhoods linked by hutongs, or public alleys, while the latter are vestiges of the early Communist planned economy.
But soon that will all change. Under a new government directive, no more gated compounds will be built in mainland cities and all new residential developments will have to comply with the public street grid.