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Conference looks at urban renewal

Local officials and land developers keen to learn from the UK's experience in urban regeneration projects attended a conference yesterday.

"We don't have enough experience in major urban redevelopment here in Taiwan. That is why we're having this conference to learn from the UK, which has enjoyed success in this field and developed its expertise," Construction and Planning Agency director-general Charles Lin (林欽榮) said.

Lin said that the conference, co-organized by the agency and the British Trade and Cultural Office in Taipei (BTCO), would bring valuable knowledge and experience to the participants.

"Urban regeneration is not easy and it can be expensive. But it's an important task for any modern country," BTCO Director Michael Reilly said, adding that he was glad that up to 10 regions had been selected to undertake urban transformation.

With a series of successful examples in the US and the UK as inspiration, Taiwan will pour billions of NT dollars into urban regeneration projects starting at the end of year, including the renovation of railway stations in Hsinchu, Keelung, Chiayi and Kaohsiung, as well as improvements to Taipei's Huakuang Community near National Taiwan Democracy Memorial Hall, Lin said.

During the industrial revolution and following World War II, many large scale, cheap housing projects were built in Britain without taking into consideration cultural and social aspects of a community, said Rupert Robinson, board codirector of the British Urban Regeneration Association (BURA).

This is why urban renewal was necessary, he said.

Urban renewal requires revamping or removing buildings and relocating residents, he said, adding this required cooperation between the government, developers and residents.

Reaching a consensus with the community is extremely important, said Shawn Riley, also a BURA codirector.

"Developers and the government had to tell the residents exactly which part of town needed to be regenerated first and what the town would be like in phase one, two and three, so they had a clear picture of what the future would be," Riley said.

The government was also expected to improve infrastructure with the goal of facilitating the area's economic growth and to attract private investment to ensure a well-structured financing plan, Robinson said.

In Taiwan, the government should be very careful with the role it plays during the process because resources are limited, Lin said.

"We have to make it right, not spread it out," he said.
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