Taipei’s Songshan Airport should be demolished once Taiwan grows economically strong enough to share or even replace Hong Kong’s role as a hub of trade and transportation services with China, a hotelier said on Monday.
Landis Hotels and Resorts Group president Stanley Yen (嚴長壽), known as the godfather of Taiwan’s hotel industry, made the comment in a speech delivered at a monthly meeting of officials at the Presidential Office.
As the two sides of the Taiwan Strait had finally launched direct shipping and air links, Yen said Taiwan should capitalize on the opportunity to develop cross-strait transportation and commercial markets.
In so doing, Yen said, Taiwan would some day be able to share markets currently dominated by Hong Kong, and even surpass the territory.
When the time comes, Yen said, the government should have Songshan Airport torn down to make way for a New York Central Park-like recreational area and a modern town patterned after Tokyo’s midtown, which would incorporate green technology in its construction.
With the airport’s disappearance, all limitations on the height of buildings in its surroundings would be eliminated. Lower structures in the area could be integrated and rebuilt into skyscrapers while leaving more space for landscaping.
Yen said only such large-scale construction opportunities could attract world-class land developers to invest in Taiwan’s construction market.
By then, all flight services could be handled by Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, which will be connected with downtown Taipei by an MRT line that is still under construction, Yen said.
He suggested that in 20 years to 50 years, a maglev train could be built to further shorten the travel time between the airport and Taipei to around 10 minutes.
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