A case of suspected arson at a building in New Taipei City’s Jhonghe District (中和) caused the deaths of nine people, with two more people sustaining serious injuries.
A previous landlord illegally built wooden divisions on two floors, one of which was an illegal rooftop structure. While this explains why the fire spread so quickly, it is just one of the dangers posed by old and run-down urban communities.
Urban centers in Taiwan cover only 12 percent of the nation’s land, but are home to more than 80 percent of the population. Most buildings in these areas are old and run down: The plumbing and electrical wiring are often worn, many buildings have illegal additions, the roads tend to be narrow, there is a shortage of firefighting equipment and the living environment is bad. Another concern is the buildings’ earthquake resistance.
Residents of older communities are typically economically disadvantaged, often rent their home and often live in crowded conditions. Many people live alone, are bedridden or have reduced mobility, which reduces their ability to respond quickly in case of fire or an earthquake. If there is a serious disaster, these are high-risk areas.
This is why people living in these urban communities should work with their neighbors to take care of their immediate neighborhoods and take stock of any potential dangers, such as illegal additions that increase the structural load.
They should also find out whether applications for interior modifications have been approved and meet legal requirements, removing any structures that could affect people’s safety in the case of an earthquake.
They should be alert to issues such as whether there is sufficient firefighting equipment and whether community sewers are blocked and could cause flooding.
These steps are necessary to prevent disasters and to elevate the community’s emergency response readiness.
The government’s strict controls on urban renewal, restrictions on the designation of units for renewal and the inapplicability of reward regulations in the Urban Renewal Act (都市更新條例) make it unlikely that residents’ hopes for the integration and reconstruction of unsafe, older communities will be met any time soon.
Residents should consider the Statute for Expediting Reconstruction of Urban Unsafe and Old Buildings (都市危險及老舊建築物加速重建條例). This statute, which passed the third legislative reading on April 25 and was promulgated by the president on May 10, is intended mainly to respond to potential disaster risks by speeding up the reconstruction of buildings that urban planners have designated as old and dangerous — and to improve the living environment, building safety and people’s quality of life.
The proposed amendment to the Urban Renewal Act is progressing too slowly to meet urgent needs, but the implementation of the statute protects residents by promising to speed up reconstruction of old and dangerous buildings and to improve their earthquake resistance, while boosting the living environment in these communities.
This is a positive and appropriate step toward the advancement of overall urban renewal in Taiwan. It will allow Taiwanese to quickly resolve issues of earthquake resistance and fire safety in these urban communities.
Residents must also pay attention to irregular building additions or demolition activity in their neighborhoods and take steps to determine what is going on to prevent disasters.
Chuang Chun-wei is a civil engineer and executive director of the Taiwan Professional Civil Engineers’ Association.
Translated by Perry Svensson
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