Recommendations For
Sustainable Urban
Development In Taiwan
Jerry S.Y. Cheng
Retired Principal City Planner, NYC Dept. of City Planning;
Former Deputy Director, Transportation Division, NYCDCP
Some Of The Current Major Issues
Related To The Future Urban
Development Of Taiwan:
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Record high aging population.
Continued urbanization.
Sharply increased ownership of private
motor vehicles.
Very low public transportation use.
Taiwan’s Aging Population
• The average annual population growth is slowing down
drastically (from 2.1% in 1980 to 0.4% in 2010) and will
reach zero growth soon.
• The aging population (65 years and over) increased
from 4.3% in 1980 to 10.7% in 2010.
• The aging index (the ratio of the percentage of the
population over 65 with that of those under 14) has
reached record height, went from 39.4% in 1999 to
65.05% in 2009. The population of Taiwan was the
oldest in Asia, with South Korea’s aging index at 58.82%,
Singapore at 50%, mainland China at 42.11%, Malaysia
at 12.5%, and the Philippines at 11.43% .
Sharply Increased Ownership Of
Private Motor Vehicles In Taiwan
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The total number of motor vehicles registered has
increased sharply in recent years, growing from
17,907 thousand in 2002 to 22,188 thousand in
2012, a 24% growth in 10 years.
the number of registered private cars rose from
4,989 thousand to 6,039 thousand, a 21% growth.
the number of motorcycles increased from 11,984
thousand to 15,019 thousand, a growth of some
25%.
Ministry of Transportation and Communication (MOTC).
Very Low Public Transportation Use
• Private motor vehicle use continues to increase
rapidly in Taiwan.
• In the account of daily trips, about 74.1% were
made by private vehicles (48.5% by motorcycles,
24.1% by private cars) and only 14.3% by public
transportation.
• In terms of private vehicle ownership, with a
population of 23,188 thousand, every 3.8 persons
own a passenger car; while every 1.5 persons own a
motorcycle, which is the highest in the world.
Survey conducted by MOTC in 2011
臺灣地區所有旅次公共運輸使用率－按縣市別分
100年調查期間:100年10月 4日至12月31日
99年調查期間:99年10月12日至12月30日
Department of Statistics, MOTC, March 2012
Transit-oriented Development (TOD)
And Urban Renewal Are Critical Tools
For Dealing With These Issues:
• Current aging society needs new development
policies for different types of housing and
transportation.
• Urban sprawl needs to be replaced with compact
cities.
• Vicious cycles (increased private motor vehicle
ownership vs. low public transportation usage)
need to be corrected.
Sustainable Development
• Sustainable development has long been promoted as the
best answer to the world’s environmental problems.
• In the urban context, sustainability issues have been
reflected in the promotion of sustainable urban
development, which emphasizes the sensible exploitation
of scarce natural resources for urbanization in a manner
that allows future generations to repeat the process.
• Such development is also beneficial in meeting the needs
of the community, with potential for addressing
environmental and economic concerns.
Suharto Teriman, Tan Yigitcanlar and Severine Mayere, “Sustainable Urban Development:
An Integrated Framework for Urban Planning and Development,” 2010
Agenda 21
• The “21” referring to the 21st century.
• A comprehensive plan of action to be taken globally, nationally
and locally by organizations of the United Nations System.
• Adopted by 178 nations at the UN Conference on
Environmental and Development (the “Earth Summit”) in 1992.
• After subsequent modifications and affirmations, the full
implementation of Agenda 21 was reaffirmed at the World
Summit on Sustainable Development in 2002.
• Even though there have been skeptics (suspecting an urban
planning conspiracy, international plot, etc.) of, criticism of, and
opposition to Agenda 21, many countries and cities around the
world see Agenda 21 as a useful guide for their own urban
planning efforts.
Taiwan Agenda 21
• In response to Agenda 21, the government of
Taiwan officially promulgated the Taiwan Agenda
21 in 2000, which outlined strategies and
guidelines “to achieve sustainable development.”
• “Taiwan Agenda 21: Vision and Strategies for
National Sustainable Development” was
approved by the Council for National Sustainable
Development, Executive Yuan in 2004.
Lawrence W. LAN, “Sustainable Development and Transportation: A Taiwan
Perspective”, 2005
Taiwan Agenda 21
Emphasized
• For the sake of Taiwan’s sustainable development,
it is essential that to promote energy-saving, lowpolluting mass transportation systems, to reduce
traffic demand and congestion, and thus reduce
the environmental pollution caused by
transportation activities.
• Should review relevant policies to reduce the
number and usage of privately owned vehicles.
Following the 2002 World Summit
on Sustainable Development
Conference
The Chairman of the Urban Regeneration
R&D Foundation in Taiwan in his 2005 paper
“Recent Challenges to the Sustainable
Development of Taiwan,” presents new
challenges Taiwan Agenda 21 faces that will
affect Taiwan’s sustainable development in
the future.
Chairman of the Urban Regeneration R&D
Foundation in Taiwan, Lung-Shen Chang,
Promotes “eco-innovation” for urban sustainability, a
“moving away from suburban patterns of development in
favor of dense, mixed-use urban neighborhoods with
win-win social and environmental effects … [which
include] a closer relation between working and living
localities, increased use of public transit, walking and
cycling, lower levels of car ownership and use, and
increased support for local retailers versus suburban
shopping malls.”
Mr. Lung-Shen Chang, “Recent Challenges to the Sustainable Development
of Taiwan” ,2005
Transportation Session of the
1992 National Development
Seminar (國建會)
One of the major subjects for discussion was on
how the transportation systems in Taiwan have
serious impact on the environmental, economic
and social systems and on how the sharply
increased ownership of private motor vehicles and
very low public transportation use made the
problem worse. Major efforts to correct the vicious
cycle were proposed.
The Organization of Economic Cooperation
and Development ( OECD ) suggests that in
order to make transportation systems
sustainable, a “significant reduction in car
ownership and use,” among other changes, is
very critical.
Lawrence W. Lan, “Sustainable Development and Transportation: A
Taiwan Perspective,” 2005
Based on the Public Transportation
Development Act Promulgated in 2002
The government has in many ways successfully
made the public transportation system attractive
and financially efficient. However, the policies and
strategies for discouraging heavy use of private
motor vehicles have not been adequate and
satisfactory.
Transportation Policy White Book
First White Book (released by MOTC in 1995):
The rationale for promoting public transportation
and discouraging heavy use of private motor
vehicles was clearly documented.
Revised White Book ( 2002 ):
More explicit policies and strategies for the
development of public transport were clearly
outlined.
In an attempt to address these issues as
they exist in Taiwan, and with sustainable
development as the answer to most
environmental concerns, this presentation
will share U.S. experiences with TransitOriented Development (TOD) and Urban
Renewal, and make recommendations for
Taiwan’s sustainable urban development.
Transit-oriented Development
• An important tool for sustainable urban development.
• A mixed-use community within walking distance of a transit
facility that mixes residential, retail, office, open space, and
public uses in a way that makes it convenient to travel on
foot or by public transportation instead of by car.
• Would encourage transit ridership and reduce the ownership
and use of private motor vehicles.
• The increasing population density around transit facilities
can capitalize on transit investment.
• Can provide alternative suburban living and working
environments (an opportunity to live in the suburbs without
being entirely dependent on the automobile).
• Can provide neighborhood revitalization (a means of
stimulating economic growth in blighted or declining areas
served by rail or other transit).
TOD has gained more acceptance in the
United States over the past decades as a
tool for:
•Curbing sprawl and its resulting car dependence.
•Promoting sustainability and smart growth.
•Leveraging economic development.
•Catering to shifting housing market demands and
lifestyle preferences.
TOD's Growing Popularity in USA
• Increasing American environmental awareness
after the 1990s. This awareness led to a valuing
of Sustainability.
• Many Americans began to rethink their lifestyles
they began to regard cars and suburban life as
environmental-unfriendly.
• The U.S. is becoming an aging society, and a
suburban lifestyle is not appealing for older
people.
To be continued
TOD's Growing Popularity in USA
• A response to traffic congestion that has been
advancing urban sprawl.
• A desire for a more pedestrian-friendly
environment.
• There has being an increasingly common theme in
zoning code reform across the country.
• Incentive zoning through the newer zoning codes,
which provide for and encourage the use of TOD
by allowing increased density at transit facilities.
Definitions of TOD
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There is no universally accepted definition of TOD.
TOD is viewed and defined differently throughout the U.S.,
with its most common traits being compact, mixed-use
development near transit facilities and high quality walking
environments.
Transit agencies from New York City and San Francisco
may claim that their “entire city met the definition of TOD.”
The same can largely be said for other cities with centuryold rail services like Chicago, Philadelphia, and Boston.
Benefits Of TOD
• Increased transit ridership and fare revenues.
• Reduced vehicle miles traveled (VMT) and therefore
lowered regional congestion and air pollution.
• Potential for added value created through increased and/or
sustained property values.
• Improved access to job centers and economic opportunity
for low-income people and working families.
• Walkable communities that accommodate more healthy
and active lifestyles
• Expanded mobility choices that reduce dependence on the
automobile and promote public transportation usage.
A Few Examples Of
TOD And Urban
Renewal Projects In
USA
The Far West Midtown plan
To promote the transit-oriented development and
urban renewal ,New York City’s No. 7 Subway Line
Extension and the Hudson Yards Development
project is a very unique and unusual case, mainly
due to its funding source and the collaboration of
city government and transportation agency from
the onset in their mutually beneficial roles.
The Far West Side In The Area
Around Lincoln Tunnel Has:
• Often been choked with cars waiting to get
into the tunnel
• Been littered with car dealerships and repair
shops
• Resembled a wasteland
• Had slow buses as its only transit option
The Far West Midtown Plan
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The $2 billion subway Extension is paid for by New York
City funds from municipal Tax Increment Financing (TIF)
bond sales that are expected to be repaid with property tax
revenues from future developments in areas served by the
Extension.
The approved rezoning for the Hudson Yards area allows
for a mixed-use community, with millions of square feet of
office, housing, hotel and retail development as well as park
space with plazas.
To transform this area into a vibrant, medium to high
density extension of the Midtown business district.
Far West Midtown
Tax Increment Financing ( TIF )
• A public financing method which has been used
as a subsidy for redevelopment and community
improvement projects in many countries including
the United States for more than 50 years. Similar
or related approaches are used elsewhere in the
world, such as value capture.
• Allows governments and public agencies to raise
funds based upon the anticipated increase in real
estate tax revenues that will result from major
infrastructure improvements.
The Jamaica Rezoning Plan
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One of the largest rezoning, TOD and Urban Renewal
efforts in New York City.
The Jamaica Transportation Hub includes the new
AirTrain, the Long Island Rail Road, subway and
buses.
To create a mixed-use TOD around the Hub which
includes millions of square feet of commercial space,
residential units, and retail.
By making the Jamaica Station/Air Train Terminal
easily accessible for users safer and more pleasant
these TOD projects will enhance and increase
ridership on Air Train, Long Island Rail Road and New
York City Transit.
Hudson-Bergen Light Rail Extension
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To extend Hudson-Bergen Light Rail (HBRL) in Jersey
City to a new station 0.7 miles past its current terminus.
To service the proposed Bayfront Redevelopment, a
massive mixed-use Urban Renewal and TOD
development project on an industrial site.
The project includes 8,100 housing units and 1.8
million square feet of office and retail space, as well as
a waterfront greenway, park space and plazas.
The site’s owner, along with Jersey City and NJ Transit,
all have something to gain by seeing the site
redeveloped, and all play a major role in enabling that
to happen.
The Atlanta Beltline, George
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America’s most ambitious TOD and Urban Renewal project,
on the site of an abandoned rail and industrial corridor.
To invest some $2.8 billion in a new, 22-mile public transit,
trails, and parks loop around the heart of the city of Atlanta.
Because the BeltLine passes through some of the inner
city's most distressed neighborhoods, the intent is for this
major public investment to leverage substantial private
investment in revitalization, particularly workforce housing.
The new transit is connecting in several places along the
loop to the MARTA regional rail transit system.
The project wants to ensure that the 3,000 acres of
underutilized or idled industrial property around the BeltLine
redevelop in ways that enhance livability and quality of life.
Tools for Effective TOD
• Accommodate pedestrians. Reflect a pedestrian-orientation
in built environments. Every transit trip begins and ends on
foot, dictating a pedestrian emphasis.
• Improve access from transit to jobs and residences. Locate
new development in proximity to transit opportunities.
• Move from node to place. Create places for people, not cars.
A place-making orientation should take precedence over
creating a node for commuters and drivers.
• Resolve fiscal challenges and barriers. Continue diligent
attention to resolution of public and private fiscal barriers.
• Depoliticize transit service. More fully fund transit operations
and focus new service in areas with the greatest demand for
transit service.
To be continued
Tools For Effective TOD
• Integrate views among actors. Approach urban centers and TODs in an
interdisciplinary fashion.
• Enhance leadership and vision. Continue leadership and articulation of a
regional vision.
• Enhance Transportation Demand Management (TDM) and related tools.
• Governments should continue to moderate auto use through TDM and
balance parking requirements.
• Implement proactive zoning and land use regulations. Seek graceful
growth and quality living environments through proactive planning.
• Acknowledge political opposition to growth and density imposition.
• Offset resistance to density through corresponding investments in
services and amenities.
Wolf and Symington (2009) ,TDM Encyclopedia, Victoria Transport Policy Institute,
Update, 31 August 2011
Recommendations For
Effective TOD Actions
• Integrate transit and urban land-use planning, thereby
capitalizing on transit investments by bringing potential
riders closer to transit facilities and increasing ridership.
• Update the zoning ordinance to use incentive zoning
through newer zoning codes or rezoning process to provide
for and encourage the use of TOD by allowing increased
density and growth at transit facilities.
• Create compact, complete, mixed-used communities
around transit facilities. These could include shops, schools
and other public services, and a variety of housing types
and prices within convenient walking distances within each
TOD neighborhood.
To be continued
Recommendations For
Effective TOD Actions
• Encourage commercial developments around transit facilities.
• Use TOD as a tool for urban renewal and neighborhood
revitalization, as a means of stimulating economic growth in
blighted or declining areas served by rail or other transit,
such as some areas served by Taiwan Railway
Administration.
• Create a vision for an attractive community. Provide the TOD
neighborhood with adequate pedestrian and bicycle facilities,
and attractive street conditions around transit facilities.
To be continued
Recommendations For
Effective TOD Actions
• Manage parking to reduce the amount of land around
transit facilities devoted to parking.
• Structure property taxes, development fees and utility rates
to reflect the lower public service costs of clustered, infill
development.
• Understand and expand the market for TOD. Build
community support with public and private participation.
Ensure TOD plans are market responsive and with
Financing and Incentive Strategies.
• Create a government-sponsored education project for
public officials, planners, developers, residents and
business managers concerning the potential benefits of
TOD.
History of Urban Renewal
• The concept has been around since the
beginnings of urban development.
• Its potential value as a process was noted in
the overcrowded conditions of 19th century
London, New York, Paris and other major
cities of the developed world affected by the
industrial revolution.
Urban Renewal is:
• a means that every country has to adopt as cities
age,
• an act of revitalizing a failing urban area to restore
economic vitality and improve the safety of the
area, either through development or
redevelopment (usually, redeveloping an urban
area is much harder and more expensive to
accomplish than a new development), and
• critical to the success of local communities and the
long-term prosperity of citizens living in urban
areas.
Urban Renewal’s Positive Effects
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Save older parts of cities across the world, with
significant improvements to their communities
Replenish housing stock throughout the city and
lower prices in more central locations, especially
beneficial for the increased aging population.
Increase density and reduce sprawl.
Improve cultural and social amenities with
economic benefits.
Improve opportunities for safety and surveillance.
Without Urban Renewal
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There would be no incentive for developers
to tackle the challenges associated with
redevelopment.
The deteriorating downtown areas would be
subject to various problems, while
continued growth on the fringes of
communities would add to the problem of
urban sprawl.
Urban Renewal for Taiwan
• Necessary path for cities in Taiwan to become
modern cities with better and safer living
environments.
• The Wenlin Yuan project sparked concerns about
issues related to urban renewal and highlighted
the limitations of current regulations.
• In revising the Urban Renewal Act, the Ministry of
the Interior needs to strike a balance between
promoting urban renewal and protecting the
interests of residents.
Eminent domain
• Is a necessary tool of urban renewal that gives
government, including urban renewal authorities,
the right to assembling private property in the
public interest or for the purpose of accomplishing
a public benefit project.
• The government can also seize the property for
private use if it can prove that doing so will serve
what's called "the public good."
Eminent Domain
In The United States
• Private property is protected by the Fifth Amendment to the
Constitution from seizure by the government without "just
compensation."
• This sometimes means offering property owners compensation
amounting to the fair market value of the property.
• Cities across the United States have been using eminent domain
to force people off their land so that private developers can build
more expensive homes, offices or shopping malls that will
produce more taxes than the buildings they are replacing.
• Sometimes, in order to legally invoke eminent domain, the
government has to certify the area or building under
consideration as "blighted."
Definition of Blighted by
New York State Constitution
Factors to be considered in determining if area is "blighted"
and thus subject to urban renewal condemnation:
• Irregularity of the plots.
• Inadequacy of the streets.
• Diversity of land ownership making assemblage of property
difficult,
• Incompatibility of existing mixture of residential and
industrial property,
• Overcrowding, incidence of crime,
• Lack of sanitation and/or drain areas
• Fire hazards, traffic congestion and pollution
Eminent Domain Attorney in
New York
• When a property owner is undergoing eminent
domain and wants to ensure just
compensation, she or he could speak to an
eminent domain attorney.
• Speaking to an eminent domain attorney
regarding one’s case will keep one informed of
one’s rights and the eminent domain process.
A Few Interesting
Cases
A Case In Seattle
• Edith Macefield achieved worldwide notoriety in 2006 when
she stubbornly turned down $1 million for her house for a
commercial development.
• The five-story project was built around her 108-year-old
farmhouse, where she died at age 86 in 2008.
• Edith Macefield willed her house to the construction
superintendent, in gratitude for the friendship he had shown
her during the construction.
• In July 2009, the house was sold for $310,000.
A Case in New York
• In 1965, Macy’s Department Store planned to
build an innovative circular "store in the round,”
combining sales area and parking facilities in a
single cylindrical building.
• The property owner of a two-story house on a
corner plot was trying to wait for the right price
without success.
• Macy’s went ahead with plans for a circular
stadium-sized store whose perimeter had to cut a
small corner off the far end of the house's
backyard.
A Case In Chongqing, China
• One family refused for two years to vacate their
home for a major development.
• Developers cut their power and water, and
excavated a 10-meter deep pit around their home.
• The owner, a local martial arts champion
threatened to beat any authorities who attempted
to evict them and granted interviews and frequent
press releases to generate publicity.
• The owners turned down an offer of 3.5 million
Yuan but eventually settled with the developers.
The Importance Of Urban Renewal
In Taiwan
• The high price of real estate is putting home
ownership beyond the means of many people and
causing others to commute from far out in the
suburbs, exacerbating transportation and energy
problems and causing urban sprawl.
• Given the unavailability of vacant land in the cities,
urban renewal is a good option for increasing the
housing supply and lowering the prices in more
central locations.
• Without urban renewal, some Taiwan cities will
continue to look like a third world country.
To be continued
The Importance Of Urban
Renewal In Taiwan
• There are many poorly constructed residential buildings
erected hastily about four decades ago to accommodate the
influx of migrants from rural areas.
• These aging structures are mainly walk-ups, unsuitable for
the increasingly aged population, and the materials and
methods employed in the construction make them less safe
against fire and earthquakes than their newer counterparts.
• For Taipei to reach its potential as a vibrant international
metropolis, as well as one with an adequate supply of highquality, affordable housing, urban renewal is a must.
Recommendations For
Urban Renewal Process
• Form a sufficiently fair and efficient government-monitored
system for putting Urban Renewal projects together and
ensuring that they can be carried out.
• In line with social justice, establish a mechanism with proper
procedures to safeguard the rights of property-owners.
• Establish a comprehensive mechanism to facilitate dialogue
and consultations between property owners and developers.
• Encourage Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO) to
participate in urban renewal processes as intermediaries or
mediators between the property owners and developers,
and/or including certified architects, appraisers, land
administrators, eminent domain attorney and urban planners.
To be continued
Recommendations For
Urban Renewal Process
• Establish a confirmation mechanism for property owners for
all the correspondences related to the urban renewal process.
• Have eminent domain attorneys available if needed.
• To protect the rights of property owners, reexamine the
threshold for urban renewal projects.
• Amend the Urban Renewal Act to define “public interest.”
• Create government-sponsored education projects to help the
public better understand the needs for urban renewal and the
legal processes involved.
Summary
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Taiwan needs to prioritize sustainable urban development.
With continued urbanization, urban sprawl, increasing
ownership of private vehicles, low usage of public
transportation, and an aging society, Taiwan needs
innovative and stronger urban development policies to
cope with its needs in years to come.
When TOD and Urban Renewal tools are used together
wisely and aggressively, the trend of the vicious cycle of
increasing ownership and use of private motor vehicles
and low public transportation usage can be reversed, thus
providing a better chance of sustainable urban
development in Taiwan.
To be continued
Summary
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The increasing ownership and use of private motor
vehicles needs to be reduced and controlled, and public
transportation usage should be encouraged and
incentivized.
The governments in Taiwan should update the zoning
ordinance in the areas of transit facilities to allow more
mixed-land uses and to reinforce the development
density.
TOD is a good tool for urban renewal and neighborhood
revitalization, a means of stimulating economic growth in
blighted or declining areas served by rail or other transit,
such as some areas served by Taiwan Railway
Administration (TRA).
To be continued
Summary
• Urban renewal is a very important tool for
improving and modernizing the city with a better
and safer environment.
• With the revised Urban Renewal Act, the Ministry
of the Interior and local governments can
successfully implement many more urban renewal
projects.
• The revised law should be more in line with social
justice. A mechanism with proper procedures
should be established to safeguard the rights of
property owners.
To be continued
Summary
• The government should launch education
projects to help the public better understand the
benefits of TOD and the need for urban renewal
and its legal processes.
• In order to reach the goal of sustainable urban
development in Taiwan, public transportation and
city planning agencies need to work together very
closely, along with government, civic
organizations, and the people.
Thank You