The Taipei City Government is to launch five initiatives to encourage urban renewal, as about 72 percent of buildings in the capital are at least 30 years old, Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said yesterday.
“Buildings constructed at least 30 years ago account for about 72 percent of all buildings in the city, so urban renewal is an urgent issue,” Chiang said, adding that the initiatives “are not only about creating a comfortable living environment, but also about safety.”
“Many people are concerned about the potentially devastating impact of a major earthquake,” he said.
Photo: Lo Pei-de, Taipei Times
The city government would encourage urban renewal by lowering the application threshold, easing regulations, speeding up reviews, removing obstacles and increasing incentives, he said, outlining the five-part plan.
Lowering the application threshold for government-led urban renewal cases from 90 percent to 75 percent and offering government-assisted assessments, price calculations and housing selection — the two phases of the first part — were announced on Friday last week, he said.
The Taipei Housing and Urban Regeneration Center received dozens of telephone calls inquiring about the initiatives, showing how much demand there is for urban renewal, he added.
“Easing regulations” would include exempting four review criteria for the reconstruction of unsafe and old buildings, easing the application threshold for projects involving buildings on slopes deemed to be at risk and allowing submissions of multiple applications at once, he said.
There are many elderly people living in old buildings near slopes, but the rules demand that every resident agrees to a reconstruction project, he said, adding that with the eased regulations, sites deemed to be dangerous can be designated as urban renewal areas by the city government.
“Accelerating reviews” is required because it takes 28 months on average to review an urban renewal proposal, Chiang said.
The city has several ideas to simplify administrative procedures, such as reducing the business plan review process from six months to five, and a “130 urban renewal project” that would reduce the review phases from two to one and complete them within 30 days, he said.
“Removing obstacles” aims to deal with cases in which there are a few households that are unwilling to allow an urban renewal plan, allowing the city government to proceed with reviews and demolitions if two or more coordination meetings have been held by the urban renewal executor and the city government, he said.
“Increasing incentives” is for old buildings that cannot undergo renewal, but have many elderly residents with disabilities, Chiang said.
Subsidies to build elevators would be increased to NT$3 million (US$98,058) from NT$2.5 million, or about 60 percent of the construction budget, he said, adding that this is expected to increase the number of applications to 30 from 15 per year.
Three Taiwanese airlines have prohibited passengers from packing Bluetooth earbuds and their charger cases in checked luggage. EVA Air and Uni Air said that Bluetooth earbuds and charger cases are categorized as portable electronic devices, which should be switched off if they are placed in checked luggage based on international aviation safety regulations. They must not be in standby or sleep mode. However, as charging would continue when earbuds are placed in the charger cases, which would contravene international aviation regulations, their cases must be carried as hand luggage, they said. Tigerair Taiwan said that earbud charger cases are equipped
Foreign travelers entering Taiwan on a short layover via Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport are receiving NT$600 gift vouchers from yesterday, the Tourism Administration said, adding that it hopes the incentive would boost tourism consumption at the airport. The program, which allows travelers holding non-Taiwan passports who enter the country during a layover of up to 24 hours to claim a voucher, aims to promote attractions at the airport, the agency said in a statement on Friday. To participate, travelers must sign up on the campaign Web site, the agency said. They can then present their passport and boarding pass for their connecting international
Temperatures in northern Taiwan are forecast to reach as high as 30°C today, as an ongoing northeasterly seasonal wind system weakens, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. CWA forecaster Tseng Chao-cheng (曾昭誠) said yesterday that with the seasonal wind system weakening, warmer easterly winds would boost the temperature today. Daytime temperatures in northern Taiwan and Yilan County are expected to range from 28°C to 30°C today, up about 3°C from yesterday, Tseng said. According to the CWA, temperature highs in central and southern Taiwan could stay stable. However, the weather is expected to turn cooler starting tonight as the northeasterly wind system strengthens again
Taiwan sweltered through its hottest October on record, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday, the latest in a string of global temperature records. The main island endured its highest average temperature since 1950, CWA forecaster Liu Pei-teng said. Temperatures the world over have soared in recent years as human-induced climate change contributes to ever more erratic weather patterns. Taiwan’s average temperature was 27.381°C as of Thursday, Liu said. Liu said the average could slip 0.1°C by the end of yesterday, but it would still be higher than the previous record of 27.009°C in 2016. "The temperature only started lowering around Oct. 18 or 19
RSS