Due to the Urban Renewal Act - I see a lot of old apartment blocks are being torn down in Daan and replaced with new ones, I assume that means that every single apartment owner in the building has to agree to it?
But what if one person doesn’t agree to sell their apartment? Can their hand be forced, or does the building company just accept they can’t build a new apartment block there?
I heard that most of the time, the homeowner is offered an apartment in the new building, and that it’s usually much smaller than their old apartment but they agree to it because Taiwanese love new stuff. This wouldn’t be a selling point for me at all, quite the opposite in fact.
Wow that’s awful, so if 32% of the residents don’t want to sell, the law says they can be ignored and their homes torn down.
Would be awful to buy an apartment you loved, spend time and money kitting it out exactly how you want, then get it all torn down and moved to a new apartment half the size with low ceilings, zero personality and high monthly maintenance fees. But yay elevator! (sarcasm).
This is now another reason to add to my list of why not to buy an apartment here.
The other owners would probably not agree to get an apartment half the size in a redevelopment. Usually the new units are attractive enough to entice the majority of owners to accept it. The remaining owners are either old people who don’t want change or historically people who want to get paid more than their fair share for the project to move forward. The latter are the reason that there is now a lower threshold.
I’m living in an area where locals have blocked redevelopment. Minsheng community. The goose shop on the corner is leading the block and for good reason. The old guy won’t be allowed to run a goose shop in a high rise apartment block. But other people are simply holding out because they know the land price will rise.
Bizarrely they’ve even started knocking down the original 1970’s medium rise blocks here. Decided they can do better, got notions and all. What a racket that was knocking them down. Now I cannae see 101 anymore.
that is a lovely neighborhood, and also quite affluent i believe. the people there can afford to renovate their homes and keep them decent looking and functional.
However in other parts of town, 60 year old buildings look like a Manila slum, those should be torn down…
Lots are, yet some are really beautiful inside with nice high ceilings, which is pretty much never seen in any new apartments, which all have low ceilings to pack more floors in.
I agree, ive lived in both new apartment building and Gongyu, and i find the Gongyus to be better in terms of space. the new apartments are smaller and designed for singles, not people with families. There is also a lot of space wasted on Lobby, KTV room and what not.
Personally i prefer renovated Gongyus to newer buildings.
However, you see many decrepit buildings, with grimey and failing facades, the bars, fire hazards from all the hoarded shit in the alley behind them… they have no architectural or historic value, they can go as far as im concerned.
From what I have heard, is that this threshold is rarely applied, though, because the construction companies and local authorities fear negative publicity for “taking away someone’s home”. Thus, most rebuilding projects will only proceed once an agreement has been reached with (almost?) all owners.
Yes that’s my understanding. For private sector construction certainly. Hence my goose guy essentially being a lone standout because the location of his property means they can’t built anything till they get rid of him. And he’s said very clearly he doesn’t want to live in a high rise and he doesn’t want to retire.
Zhonghe and Yonghe…jeez.
The density is already incredible I guess need to wait another 20 years for old folks to die there…How do you redevelop an incredibly dense urban forest like that. Just need to level the place.
Minsheng community was modeled on American community planning when was built and was revolutionary at the time.
I don’t really get that, who studies urbanism from the U.S. and how is it like America
It is one of the best planned areas in Taipei, with a good mix of density, homes, shopping, restaurants and green spaces. It’s also walkable and attractive
It doesn’t make sense to do urban renewal there when half the city looks like a favela
This right here. Also, I’ve seen plenty of buildings in Taoyuan that have the fancy fountain lobbies, etc. However, they then quit maintaining them after a few years and the spaces end up looking like crap. I’m assuming the owners eventually vote to lower the maintenance fees and this is the result, but the trashy looking aftermath is kind of sad, like a deserted mall.