Toad Mountain (蟾蜍山), near Taipei’s Gongguan (公館) commercial district, has been listed as a cultural landscape by the Taipei City Government, helping residents, whose families settled there following the Chinese Civil War more than 60 years ago, to escape from the fate of having their homes demolished.
The mountain features irrigation ditches and meandering treks leading to Huanmin Village (煥民新村), whose old-fashioned buildings date to the time when the US and Taiwan jointly set up an air base to defend against China’s People’s Liberation Army.
Despite its historical importance, the National Taiwan University of Science and Technology last year tried to claim the land by filing charges against its residents, accusing them of “making illicit profits” from its proposed expansion.
In 2000, the university was granted a plot of land at the foot of the mountain by the city government’s Urban Planning Commission for an expansion project, on the condition that it relocate all the residents living on the site before commencing any construction.
“The legal action the university has taken against residents, who have been living there for more than 60 years, is clearly illegal, as they are against its commitment to the urban planning commission to relocate the residents,” Good Toad Studio convener Lin Ting-chieh (林鼎傑) said.
The project was postponed as it met with strong opposition from residents, as well as cultural and creative workers.
Following a cultural assessment carried out by the city government’s Cultural Affairs Department in March, on Wednesday last week the department presented a report which concluded that the military dependents village, along with designated areas in the mountain’s vicinity, should be designated a cultural landscape.
The department said the university should heed the Cultural Heritage Preservation Act (文化資產保存法) and carry out all future development in a fashion that promotes biodiversity and conserves historical buildings, to preserve the mountain’s cultural heritage.
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