--FILE--Vehicles move slowly in a traffic jam on a road in Beijing, China, 13 November 2014. In addition to pollution and congestion, the city of Beijing is also inflicted with a dearth of 3.5 million parking spaces. Due to the rapid growth of car ownership, parking has been a growing pain in Chinese mega-cities such as Beijing and Shanghai. Meanwhile, cars parked on narrow streets or curbside are commonly seen, disrupting traffic and causing quarrels. In a bid to ease parking difficulty, the city government of Beijing aims to impose a rule from next year that will make it necessary for local residents to have a parking space before buying a car, according to a People¯s Daily report last week that quoted Deputy Mayor Zhang Yankun. According to Mr. Zhang, Beijing ª with a population of 21.5 million ª had 5.59 million motor vehicles by the end of 2014. However, on average every ten households in the city share only three to five parking slots. No Chinese cities have had the proof-of-parking policy so far.
