When Chen lost his re-election bid in 1998, Chang joined the Taichung City Government as deputy mayor.
Chang drafted Chen's urban planning white paper in the run-up to the presidential election in 2000 and was appointed vice chairman of the Council for Economic Planning and Development in May 2000 when Chen came to power.
Although Chang is full of creative ideas, has has trouble putting them into practice.
"It's one thing to be an academic and another to be a politician," said Huang Chuang-shia (黃創夏), a veteran journalist who has been covering the council and the Cabinet for over 15 years.
Huang cited the example of trying to push for the transfer of development rights when he was the head of Taipei City's Urban Development Bureau.
Chang was censured by the Control Yuan for formulating a lax policy.
Although Huang said that he recognizes Chang's capability and creativity, he said Chang has a personal flaw.
"His biggest problem is that he's too proud," Huang said. "I remember when he was having his first official luncheon with the media after being appointed deputy head of the CEPD, he was bragging about his innovative idea of relocating the Sungshan Airport from Taipei City to Sunchih, Taipei County."
The reason behind it reportedly was to sabotage the fengsui of the city and prevent the KMT from returning to power.
Hsia Chu-joe (
"He's the one and only graduate student of the graduate institute of building and planning who was admitted to pursue his doctorate without a thesis," Hsia said.
Hsia attributed Chang's current plight to the Chen administration, which he said is clueless about using the right people.
"While he's a brilliant and smart young man, I don't think he's in the right place," Hsia said. "You simply cannot expect him to do anything big while the entire decision-making process is flawed."
RSS