Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) yesterday vowed to turn the Shezidao (社子島) peninsula into Taipei’s Manhattan within 11 years after a long-stalled development project for the area passed the review of the Council for Economic Planning and Development yesterday.
The city government will budget NT$70 billion (US$2.1 billion) over 11 years to develop the 240-hectare area, including flood-prevention construction, new housing projects and recreational facilities.
“The development of Shezidao used to seem like an impossible dream, but now we can finally transform the area... We will turn Shezidao into the Manhattan of Taipei,” Hau told a press conference yesterday at Taipei City Hall.
Ting Yu-chun (丁育群), commissioner of Taipei City’s Department of Urban Development, said the city government will start purchasing land from local residents and begin flood prevention construction as soon as July.
Hau said that the city government would make the interests of the district’s more than 10,000 residents its priority, promising to help them by providing better housing.
The Shezidao peninsula is a low-lying area in Taipei City that suffers from flooding during typhoons, and many illegal remain in the area.
The city government proposed the project to redevelop the area and solve the flooding problem 10 years ago, but it has been stalled because of opposition from Taipei County, which feared that flooding construction work in Shezidao could force the water to flow to low-lying areas in Sanchong (三重) and Lujhou (蘆洲).
Hau said the Taipei County Government presented an urban development project for Sanchong and Lujhou cities to solve any possible flooding.
The city government will conduct an environmental impact assessment for the area while proceeding with the development project, he said.
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