Comprehensive Urban Renewal: Taipei City Issues Action Plan

(Taiwan Business News) To comprehensively promote urban renewal, Taipei City Deputy Mayor Chang Chin-o stated that the "Taipei City Urban Renewal Action Plan" has been approved, hoping to restore public confidence in urban renewal.

Chang Chin-o said that urban renewal is a point of no return, and this action plan demonstrates the Taipei City Government's determination. Through four major dimensions, eight major strategies and forty-eight action plans, it will generate dialogue and consensus with society. Comprehensive urban renewal is a blueprint, not merely a point-by-point promotion.

Chang Chin-o pointed out that cases such as the Wenlin Yuan case have gradually been resolved, the Yongchun case is slowly being pushed forward, and the Zhengyi Building has begun to show performance results. These are results that had not been seen over the past long period, and they are now slowly emerging.

However, it is now gradually being found that to comprehensively promote urban renewal and guide hundreds of cases in applying, urban renewal operations need to be integrated. The emergence of the Taipei City Urban Renewal Action Plan represents the Taipei City Government's concrete action. It will carry out supervision and implementation on a monthly basis, build consensus with society, and it is expected that urban renewal will gradually bear fruit next year.

Lin Chung-chieh, Director of the Taipei City Urban Renewal Office, pointed out that Taiwan has been promoting urban renewal since the 87th year of the Republic of China [1998], and this should be the first urban renewal action plan. Its four major dimensions include strengthening guidance and integration mechanisms, establishing diverse plans and improving the system, enhancing review efficiency and protecting citizens' rights, and expanding and promoting urban renewal results. Integration and implementation have now begun.

He said that since the Urban Renewal Office was established in the 93rd year of the Republic of China [2004], up to November 30 of this year, it has accepted a total of 236 urban renewal business plan applications for review, of which 177 have been announced, approved and implemented, with a passage rate of 75%.

Pien Tai-ming, Director-General of the Taipei City Department of Urban Development, stated that this concrete action plan will select some old districts in Taipei City to accelerate the pace of urban renewal, such as Wanhua District, by formulating this plan and guiding the private sector to promote it.