The Taipei City Government’s Department of Urban Development yesterday opened an exhibition showcasing architectural drawings, models, photographs and official documents related to its efforts to promote public housing policies, while officials detailed a timetable for completing 20,000 public housing units the city government has promised and explained building designs.
The exhibition at the Xue Xue Institute in Taipei’s Neihu District (內湖) is centered around the theme of “residential justice,” officials said, adding that it features numerous models that show the difference in public housing complexes before and after their planned modernization; posters that help visitors understand the core values of public housing; and pictures showing the current state of the city’s older public housing units.
The exhibition also features a dozen folders holding paperwork, presentation files and minutes taken during urban planning committee meetings, documenting the entire decisionmaking process. In the spirit of Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je’s (柯文哲) policy to ensure openness and transparency in governance, people visiting the exhibition can go through all the data, officials said.
Department Commissioner Lin Jou-min (林洲民) said that the department has issued an online announcement to receive bids for the construction of 11,000 units and that it would start accepting tenders to build another 9,000 units next year.
The department plans to complete all 20,000 units and obtain operating licenses for the buildings to allow tenants to move in before the end of Ko’s term, Lin said.
“A total of 46 public housing complexes are to have daycare centers and care facilities at ground level as part of the city’s social welfare policies,” Lin said.
The complexes are also to feature community parks open to the use of all Taipei residents, Lin said, adding that the plans to open 46 venues at the complexes for people to enjoy live music performances were under discussion.
Taipei Deputy Mayor Charles Lin (林欽榮), who is also the chairman of the city’s Urban Planning Commission, said 6,000 public housing units have been selected for the city’s “smart communities” pilot project to respond to the challenges of global warming and Taipei’s aging population.
Facilities at smart communities will include smart power grids and a smart meter — which would help regulate power consumption — as well as nursing homes in the public housing buildings, Charles Lin said.
He said he has asked the Ministry of Economic Affairs to subsidize 1,000 electric vehicles for the city’s YouCar program, a carpooling program using electric vehicles, which he said would be tested at the Xinglong public housing buildings in Muzha (木柵).
Charles Lin said a rule that states that only those in the lower 40th percentile of the city’s average income level would be eligible to apply for public housing would be eased this week, lowering the bar on eligibility to the 50th percentile, adding that tenants whose incomes are below the 30th percentile would receive rent subsidies, for which the Department of Social Welfare is to set aside between NT$400 million and 800 million (US$12.07 million and 24.14 million) annually.
He added that non-Taipei residents who work or study in Taipei would also be eligible to apply for public housing and that 60 percent of units are to be reserved for applicants between the ages of 20 and 45.
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