Uneven sidewalks and bar-covered windows and balconies could be relegated to history if two draft bills being reviewed by the Executive Yuan are passed into law.
The draft legislation seeks to beautify the cities nationwide by regulating the design and maintenance of cityscapes.
Minister Without Portfolio Lin Sheng-feng (林盛豐), who is in charge of coordinating a review of the two bills, told the Taipei Times that the two draft bills -- the statute regarding cityscapes (都市景觀條例) and the landscape protection law (景觀維護法) -- might include fines to make the implementation of the two laws more effective.
Lin did not detail how the fines would work or how much they would be, saying the two bills are still in the early stages of the review process.
But he did say that "we'll make sure the fines serve as an effective deterrent."
Lin revealed that the review committee is also considering whether to integrate the two bills into one to avoid redundancy or to amend existing related laws to make them stricter.
"I don't think we'll be able to reach a consensus until our next meeting, which is scheduled for Friday, Oct. 11," he said.
Although Lin said that he will respect the final decision of the review committee, he said he does have his own vision of an ideal cityscape.
"Similar to my ideal for a national park, an ideal cityscape would include a well-planned landscape design which is well-executed, well-coordinated and well-managed," he said.
Lin said that such a design would blend artificial objects well with nature.
As for his ideal national park, it would have the least amount of human intervention possible.
"That's the basic principle and it's as simple as that," Lin said.
Lin's insistence on simplicity cost one man his job last week when an angry Premier Yu Shyi-kun fired superintendent of the Taroko National Park Headquarters, Yeh Shih-wen (
"If those in charge don't know what they are doing, they should be dismissed," the premier said.
Yu fired Yeh after Lin visited the site.
"It's so overdeveloped," Lin said. "Good, professional geographic planning should be like well-applied make-up -- make-up should make a woman more beautiful, not ugly," he said.
Lin was critical of the cement scenic-lookout platforms on the peak and the fact that cellphone base stations were located there.
To ensure the quality of future landscaping projects, Yu instructed the Ministry of the Interior to speed up the regulations on the design and implementation of landscape planning.
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