Chiang must change focus
Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) announced that the city would enter a “major urban renewal era” to deal with damage done by the April 3 earthquake.
When Kee Tai Properties Co’s construction work in September last year caused the collapse of adjacent buildings in the Dazhi (大直) area, the Taipei City Government also launched a renewal project. The process ended with no satisfactory solutions, despite the amount of time it took.
Kee Tai originally proposed that landowners who qualified could apply for “one ping [3.3m2] for one ping,” meaning they would receive a new property, the size of which would be equivalent to their original property, as a kind of “plot ratio incentive.”
However, as the city government initiated a renewal project focusing on the Kee Tai case, the property owners involved were also affected.
Therefore, with the city government involved as a third party, no consensus has been reached in negotiations between Kee Tai and the affected property owners. This has drawn public criticism.
The city government provides a “building bulk reward,” a kind of “plot ratio incentive,” in which landowners are recompensed for properties sold to it. It is also taking measures to address those who refuse to cooperate with urban renewal.
However, the city government has not offered enough carrots or sticks to people involved in the renewal plan, and is even holding back on promising any key performance indicators. The effect is that its much trumpeted “major urban renewal era” is just a pie-in-the-sky idea, useful for nothing but political benefit.
To reduce potential risks in Taipei caused by earthquakes, the city government’s top priority is to investigate the safety of illegal rooftop extensions. These illegal yet ubiquitous structures are not included in any structural design plans, place extra pressure on a building and there is no mechanism for ensuring the quality of construction.
Tens of thousands of illegal rooftop structures have been listed for demolition since the city government started to regulate the issue in 1995, but the illegal rooftops are still there. It has been nearly 30 years, and these illegal structures remain a huge threat to public safety.
The city government should do a comprehensive inspection using drones with cameras to look for such structures without causing a public disturbance.
Any structure that might be a safety concern or is recognized as an illegal extension should be listed for demolition. By doing this, the city government could better prevent potential losses due to earthquakes, typhoons and severe fires.
Everyone remembers how thoroughly Chiang looked into the controversy surrounding president-elect William Lai’s (賴清德) family home during the presidential election campaign.
If Chiang put as much effort into the urban renewal project as he puts into politically beneficial issues, he could soon eradicate any of Taipei’s deeply rooted problems and improve safety.
Ming Yen
Taipei
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