it would work if we had educated consumers. is there something equivalent to a consumer reports for taiwan services? ok- another idea to make $ and do good. how boring :help:
I think this is simplistic. Capitalism is more diverse than that - there are different models. It can and has been harnessed to achieve primary ends other than simply making money. Sorry, I’m not giving examples but they’re out there. Even on a cynical basis, civic mindedness is good publicity.
How about volunteer direct action or activism, demonstrating good faith. Make a noticeable difference somewhere. Something like litter picking, or maybe something higher profile. Clearing dog shit off the roads might be seen as weird enough to make people stand up and pay attention. There’s probably not enough litter or shit on the streets to just go anywhere and hope to be noticed. Would have to be somewhere with a specific problem. Anyone know of anywhere?
Could be done with media involvement - what’s the chances of newspapers having a few empty column inches they need to fill on any given day? It’s not that hard to get a press release into the papers.
Can we get back to good ideas? Both how we can directly improve Taipei (without appearing arrogant) and ideas for governing/planning/developing the city.
At the heart of capitalism is exploitation, it has been proven time and time again, only governments can reign in capitalism through regulation.
Philanthropy is a luxury of putting social value on being civic minded. I stress luxury because it is basically the rich doing a strange form of one-ups-menship.
For the buildings side, as I explained in my proposal, the government/mayor office can create some City Renewal Companies, non-profit, to help clean up the cities. It is based on the billboard for a while model, as the buildings being repaired can serve as billboard. Instead of you seeing the green protector, you would see a printed protector with one of the companies involved on the project. These companies will give materials/work instead of money. This way, the Taiwanese companies also gather a platform of investment and a new “building renewal economy” can be born.
Actually what is happening already is older buildings are being torn down and new ones being constructed that are higher and so hold apartments. The building company gets to sell these new units to make a profit, the old tenants get a new apartment worth more than their old one, and the neighborhood (usually this is a big project involding many smaller buildings in a neighborhood) gets a facelift with green space and other decorative touches add.
I like your idea too. It’s really all about facades as I have said over and over again.
[quote=“ac_dropout”]At the heart of capitalism is exploitation, it has been proven time and time again,[/quote]No it isn’t, its profit. Stop re-writing definitions to suit your agenda. [quote=“ac_dropout”]"…only governments can reign in capitalism through regulation.[/quote]Left alone, true Capitalism id quite self-regulating. Perhaps your shallow understanding of it did not fully examine the depth of Capitalism.
[quote=“ac_dropout”]Philanthropy is a luxury of putting social value on being civic minded.[/quote]No, it is providing needed funds or services gained by being a successful business person.[quote=“ac_dropout”] I stress luxury because it is basically the rich doing a strange form of one-ups-menship.[/quote]No, you stress that aspect because your are committed to denigrating the system under which you chose to live. A system which allows you the freedom to make such denigrating statements.
Maybe they should have a “Raze the city and build a Higher one” plan. As most people live in these old 3-4 floors buildings, building a nice new one with 15 floors and surrounding it with gardens would be a good idea - except that few ones want to live in the highest floors.
Also, Urban renewal means protecting the architechture and the history of the city. If ROC people are not interested in their history (hey, some of them only came for a while, didn’t they), then the first option leads to a city of the future. Protecting the history means you will have extra income from tourist (as it happens in Europe). Developping a city of the future can mean you will have lower expenses on the city (using better developped plans and better technologies). For example, how many residence houses in Taipei have separate triturators for food and compressors for the common garbage? How many residences have water barrels to store stormwater that can be later used in the gardens? How many residences have intelligent lighting to save power consumption? How many of them are insulated from noise and temperature, to lower the use of power? How many of them have solar panels linked to batteries that can store energy for the common areas lighting?
While you can see most of these things as extras for a residence, they can reduce the overall expenditure of a residence by a significant percentage. Also, it reduces the need for power, so that Taiwan isn’t forced to build another Nuclear Power Plant.
But still, you go buy the “100 most beautifull cities in the world” book and try to find Taipei…
Really? I see no evidence of that.
Most of the old interesting buildings have been torn down already. Most neighborhoods are just blight. No need to preserve them at all.
We’re the 101st.
Mucha, I gave an idea for how to increase the park space in Taipei. My alley has about 16 buildings, which of it has 8 apartments (that means 128 apartments). It occupies an area of about 70 meters long and 40 meters wide. Now, a residence with 22 floors, 8 apartments by floor can take all this people and 48 apartments would still be available to pay the bill (considering at least 15M per apartment (this is Xinyi sec 5), there could be 720M from the sales), on a better format, including park and facilities. As there is a bus stop in the end of the alley (connection with the lane), this can also be integrated into the building architecture, creating a fully and completelly integrated residence.
Of course, I’m trying to play Simcity here, and this would normally work because the extra this area would get for having a high quality building would be easily reflected. High quality means it would attract people with a good purchasing power, and those would increase their expenditures on this area (meaning that people can win more). And why not integrating services into the first floors, services that can generate better living standard.
[quote=“Muzha Man”]
Actually what is happening already is older buildings are being torn down and new ones being constructed that are higher and so hold apartments. The building company gets to sell these new units to make a profit, the old tenants get a new apartment worth more than their old one, and the neighborhood (usually this is a big project involding many smaller buildings in a neighborhood) gets a facelift with green space and other decorative touches add.
I like your idea too. It’s really all about facades as I have said over and over again.[/quote]
I’d rather see the older buildings renovated and the existing three or four floor street wall maintained. I’m also a firm believer that the city should make respecting the arcades code. As for the “tower in the park” model, it tends to disrupt, if not destroy, the urban fabric of the surrounding neighborhood. Private micro parks are not going to the solve the problem of lack of green space. What the city needs is a comprehensive plan to implement traffic calming measures and streetscape improvements. The construction of sidewalks and the planting of trees on secondary streets would be a step toward realizing this goal.
Before Renovation
After
Tower in the park
Taipei landscape improvement proposals:
Capital Plaza
capitalplaza.taipei.gov.tw/a5.asp
Central Park
uro.gov.tw/Project/Project-D … px?seri=42
Taipei Botanical Garden
tpbg.com.tw
YUP, no way to find Taipei even in the TOP 500 prettiest cities in the world. Taipei is just not a destination city like Paris, London, NYC, Rome, Hong Kong, etc. There is little to see in Taipei. However, Taipei is one of those cities that people really just live in. Its not a tourist city really, but is a great city to live in once you get used to certain things and build up your friend network, find a few places to call home, etc. Have a few fav bars, restaurants, etc.
Its not much of a city to VISIT , unlike HONGKONG, but is one of those cities that can be quite pleasant to live in. Especially since you are not far from beaches, mountains . Quick one day getaways or overniters are not far. I loved driving over to the north coast. Over to Ilan and Suao , etc. Yang Ming Shan (called locally Grass Mountain) and its sulfur baths are great for the afternoon.
There is a great deal of room for improvement in TAipei and Taiwan for sure. To make things prettier and more livable. Lets hope the ball keeps rolling in the right direction.
tommy, that is what we are all trying to do.
Bloody hell. I think my girlfriend designed that! Is it near Yenping N Road and Huan He N Road, near(ish) Minzu West Road? Funny thing is, rather than making the facades level with each other, her boss asked her to deliberately put in an offset between buildings to make them more genuine. Thankfully, the pavement (sidewalk) is level. It’s only a shame that this street (assuming it is the one) is hidden away.
There is hope. The company she occasionally works for renovates old buildings. She also did the Taipei Guest House and a traditional shopping street (ex red light street I think) in Wenhua. Some people are interested in this.
This is a good example of what should be done elsewhere. I wonder if the company who made this isn’t interested in doing more work. Like I said, the investment needed can come from many sources, it is only needed to make the people’s mind work. All it takes is will.
Personally I like the blight, the exposed wiring, the ulcerous concrete. We’ve got grime not crime. It’s beautiful. They should leave it the way it is and just put in a few more football pitches.
I can confirm that that facade was my girlfriend’s work. Makes my heart glow with pride! So, we do know who the company are, and they do specialise in restoring historic buildings.
I agree, there’s nothing wrong with a bit of grot. I certainly wouldn’t want a sanitised city but many of the decent buildings with character need restoring or they will crumble. Often you can barely notice that they’re any different from the average concrete shite behind all the signs, wires, street furniture and encroaching vegetation. Trees growing out of old buildings is cool and not something we have back home, but nevertheless these buildings need caring for and celebrating. There are more than you might think.
That’s nice, fruitloop, as is the Taipei Story House or whatever it’s called. Tell your g/f “nice work” from me.
I don’t mind the hanging wires (you can see them in the small streets in Tokyo and they still look nice). The problem is the arrangement of the wires.There is none. Everything is done as if there is no care whatsoever. Cable companies just pull out one cable out of the distie box and pull it directly to the first available window of the customer. Taiwan looks like people don’t care, they just want the things done as cheap as possible. And then they tell you to fork 10M for a house where you can hear the neighbours walking upstairs, the pillars are made of empty wood and the rain is so noisy you find yourself taking pills to sleep.
[quote=“fruitloop”]
I agree, there’s nothing wrong with a bit of grot. I certainly wouldn’t want a sanitised city but many of the decent buildings with character need restoring or they will crumble. [/quote]
so does that mean you dont want taipei to become like singapore where everything is clean and pristine? everybody raves about singapore, especially expats.
What needs to be addressed in Taipei?
The air pollution first and foremost. We all breathe.
Then we’ll try some hard hitting anti-littering Public Service Announcements.
More trees would be nice too. And more shrubbery.
I don’t know quite what to say about the driving here, but it’s a big open sore too.
Things have improved in most regards though, from when I first got here many moons ago. I’ll say that much.