Diarrhea street
[quote=âheadhonchoIIâ]Dachengqiao (sp?) district. If linked with the river it has awesome tourist potential. There is a really ugly run-down shopping mall in the middle, that should be torn down, I wonder is it still there?
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Yes unfortunately, itâs a market. brrrrrggghhhhh!
The wall has mosaics on the river side which were built by local art groups (wiht gov grants). In any case, hereâs a brief overview of the renovations from Commonwealth Magazine:
[quote]Now all rapid transit, train and high speed rail connection for Taipei city, county and the airport will be concentrated within Taipei Main Station and the underground promenade connecting it with the Gate of Taipei complex.
Once the integration of the transport hub is completed, the vacant land that will be freed up, north of Zhongxiao West Road and south of Civil Boulevard and running west from Taipei Main Station about one kilometer to the Danshui River flood wall, will be transformed into Taipei Cityâs central park. While the new park has yet to be designated with a formal name, city government officials are already privately referring to it as âGateway Park.â
The transformation of the West Side is now underway. Without most people even realizing it, the subject of urban renewal is quietly fermenting. In the coming two years, a number of eye-catching construction projects will be completed one by one, and the effect of West Side renewal will become plainly evident. So what will the new chemistry be as the history and culture of the cityâs old quarter is consumed in the wave of urban renewal? After the metamorphosis, who will rise again and who will be relegated to the shadows? The new West Side is set to write a new chapter of history.[/quote]
Is the skyscraper development that was supposed to happen west of taipei station off then?
Yeah, that confuses me too. Not sure what they are talking about.
If you search through the threads at this forum you can find the proposed blueprints / artistâs renditions of what the area from main station to the river is going to end up looking like. I donât have time at the moment to find the relevant thread in there though.
its reassuring to know that the subject of urban renewal is quietly fermenting 
actually one initiative I must applaud is the turning of vacant buildings into mini-green zones. you can see this throughout xinyi district where I guess the government takes over abandoned buildings through compulsory acquisition, pulls them down and plants a few trees and lays a lawn. simple but effective.
It would be nice if thatâs whatâs happening. But itâs more likely that what youâre seeing is temporary. The government is providing important special dispensations to construction companies that put up parks during the Flora Expo. But as soon as the expo is over in a few months, say goodbye to those green spaces because those spots will be transformed into buildings only the rich can afford to live in.
It would be nice if thatâs whatâs happening. But itâs more likely that what youâre seeing is temporary. The government is providing important special dispensations to construction companies that put up parks during the Flora Expo. But as soon as the expo is over in a few months, say goodbye to those green spaces because those spots will be transformed into buildings only the rich can afford to live in.[/quote]
ah thatâll be it thenâŚthought it was 2gd2btrue
Thatâs all well and good, but what they really should do is tear down that ugly flood wall so the planned park and the existing riverside park can join together. Has the flood wall actually protected city residents from a deluge before?[/quote]
Yes it definitely has !! Check with the city govt on that.
It would be nice if thatâs whatâs happening. But itâs more likely that what youâre seeing is temporary. The government is providing important special dispensations to construction companies that put up parks during the Flora Expo. But as soon as the expo is over in a few months, say goodbye to those green spaces because those spots will be transformed into buildings only the rich can afford to live in.[/quote]
ah thatâll be it thenâŚthought it was 2gd2btrue[/quote]
Yep, several of the empty builings or undergoing repair in Dihua Street have those cartoon-filled Flora Expo ads⌠
Well, Iâm going to ride over there now and take a look at it all. Send the hounds if I donât report back by 9pm.
In Sanxia it was a complete different way of renovation, what I heard is that the Taipei county government actually took ownership of the front part of the building 10-20m or so, they then leased it back to the real owners or to an âentrepreneurâ, running a business ⌠the back and second floor are still owned by the owner ⌠and itâs one company that got to do the whole street ⌠Far Glory ⌠probably handing back some kickbacks to a few politicians âŚ
Iâm holding a photo exhibition at an art space there in one of the renovated old buildings, and I was over there tonight, walked from Daqiaotou MRT station. Lots of renovation going on, and the buildings that have already been done up look good IMHO. Shaping up to be a really cool area.
I was there tonight as well. Rode over on my bike. Yeah, the buildings that have been done have been done well (mostly). But I donât see much if any progress from 1.5 years ago, the last time I was in the area checking out restoration. Certainly much more of the surrounding neighborhood should have been revived by now as well. This work began under Maâs 2nd term as mayor.
I think what the deal is, is that before they can build the new high rises, the land that they have acquired to do it on (inclusive of the older buildings they raze to clear the land), has to lie âfallowâ for a year, and that the construction companies get a subsidy if they turn it into a mini park for the year. At least thatâs the way it was explained to me.
Why on earth would it have to lay fallow? Does this later on help the buildings to grow to impressive heights? 
Assuming this is a serious question (I know - assume makesâŚ), I think its meant as a brake on runaway land speculation.
Hereâs some information on the continuing off-topic subject of the temporary parks.
[ul][li]DPP pans new urban renewal plan[/li]
[li]Huaku wins bid[/li][/ul]
Really glad for Icon starting this thread. I hadnât been to Di Hua Street in over ten years. So I was excited to go see whatâs been going on down there. Wow. Itâs amazing actually. Itâs very good to see this sort of development in Taipei, obviously government supported.
Hereâs a Flickr gallery of photographs of many Di Hua Street façades I took yesterday:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/russmcclay/sets/72157625575722014/
-rmm