Legal experts challenge new directive ordering gated communities to open

Lawyers are challenging a new State Council directive ordering a halt to construction of new gated communities and opening of existing compounds to the public, South China Morning Post reported. “Gated communities that have already been built are private properties bought by owners. The right to use roads within the boundaries of these communities is shared by all owners and protected by the constitution and the law,” said Xu Xin, law professor at the Beijing Institute of Technology. Indeed, China’s property law states “roads within a building zone shall be jointly owned by all owners, with the exception of the public roads belonging to a city or township”.