The former office building of the Chinese-language United Daily News Group on Zhongxiao E Road was turned into a park last year, becoming a recreational spot for many of the area’s residents. However, the park will be replaced by a high-rise building in 2014.
An additional 72 parks around Taipei City could also be replaced by buildings under the “Taipei Beautiful” program, the Taipei City Government’s urban renewal project to beautify the city for the Taipei International Flora Expo, which concluded on Monday.
Under the program, owners of old buildings located within 500m of major tourist attractions and transportation hubs who agreed to turn the buildings into green spaces for 18 months are now eligible for a “bulk reward” of an extra 3 percent to 10 percent of their initial land size when they develop the site in the wake of the expo.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Taipei City Councilor Kao Chia-yu (高嘉瑜) yesterday accused the city government of profiting conglomerates and contributing to skyrocketing housing prices.
Kao said the city would create more than 20,000 ping (66,000m2) of land for the 73 urban renewal applicants, with potential profits totaling more than NT$12 billion (US$390 million) when the bulk reward of up to 10 percent is included.
Huang Jui-mao (黃瑞茂), board chairman of OURs, a non-profit organization that combats speculation and urban renewal projects that benefit private investors, described the program as a fraud that profited private investors and urged the city government not to sacrifice green space for the sake of gains for a few investors.
“The extra land covered by the bulk reward is a public resource, not private property, and the city government should not use it as a gift to conglomerates,” he said.
However, Chang Wen-te (張溫德), chief engineer at the Taipei City Urban Redevelopment Office, said the program aimed to improve the city’s appearance by encouraging private landowners to demolish old buildings, adding that it would be difficult to achieve this goal if the city government did not offer incentives.
The urban renewal committee would carefully review each of the 73 renewal cases before determining the percentage of extra land applicants would be granted, he said.
The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) yesterday said it had deployed patrol vessels to expel a China Coast Guard ship and a Chinese fishing boat near Pratas Island (Dongsha Island, 東沙群島) in the South China Sea. The China Coast Guard vessel was 28 nautical miles (52km) northeast of Pratas at 6:15am on Thursday, approaching the island’s restricted waters, which extend 24 nautical miles from its shoreline, the CGA’s Dongsha-Nansha Branch said in a statement. The Tainan, a 2,000-tonne cutter, was deployed by the CGA to shadow the Chinese ship, which left the area at 2:39pm on Friday, the statement said. At 6:31pm on Friday,
The Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy’s (PLAN) third aircraft carrier, the Fujian, would pose a steep challenge to Taiwan’s ability to defend itself against a full-scale invasion, a defense expert said yesterday. Institute of National Defense and Security Research analyst Chieh Chung (揭仲) made the comment hours after the PLAN confirmed the carrier recently passed through the Taiwan Strait to conduct “scientific research tests and training missions” in the South China Sea. China has two carriers in operation — the Liaoning and the Shandong — with the Fujian undergoing sea trials. Although the PLAN needs time to train the Fujian’s air wing and
Taiwanese celebrities Hank Chen (陳漢典) and Lulu Huang (黃路梓茵) announced yesterday that they are planning to marry. Huang announced and posted photos of their engagement to her social media pages yesterday morning, joking that the pair were not just doing marketing for a new show, but “really getting married.” “We’ve decided to spend all of our future happy and hilarious moments together,” she wrote. The announcement, which was later confirmed by the talent agency they share, appeared to come as a surprise even to those around them, with veteran TV host Jacky Wu (吳宗憲) saying he was “totally taken aback” by the news. Huang,
The American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) put Taiwan in danger, Ma Ying-jeou Foundation director Hsiao Hsu-tsen (蕭旭岑) said yesterday, hours after the de facto US embassy said that Beijing had misinterpreted World War II-era documents to isolate Taiwan. The AIT’s comments harmed the Republic of China’s (ROC) national interests and contradicted a part of the “six assurances” stipulating that the US would not change its official position on Taiwan’s sovereignty, Hsiao said. The “six assurances,” which were given by then-US president Ronald Reagan to Taiwan in 1982, say that Washington would not set a date for ending arm sales to Taiwan, consult
RSS