On January 11, Mayor Ko Wen-je embarked on an inspection tour at the construction site of the athletes’ village in Linkou District of New Taipei City. The complex will house the athletes taking part in the upcoming 2017 Summer Universiade and will be transformed into a public housing complex after the games.
The New Construction Office (NCO) of the Public Works Department reported that the progress of constructions is on schedule.
The mayor said that he is confident that the athletes’ village will be inaugurated in 2017. Following the end of the 2017 Universiade, the facilities and equipment of the athletes’ village will be remodeled and reutilized as Linkou Public Housing. He hopes to call a meeting comprising Taipei City Government, New Taipei City Government, and Ministry of the Interior’s Construction and Planning Agency to discuss this topic as soon as possible.
In light of rising costs of housing across Greater Taipei in recent years, the Ministry of the Interior introduced plans for building public housing units in Linkou District. With the Summer Universiade slated for 2017, plans were modified to temporarily utilize the housing units as athletes’ village for a short period following completion, before changing them back into public housing.
According to NCO, there will be a total of 34 buildings constructed, offering 82 storefronts and 2,910 housing units – including 302 20-ping units, 2,020 30-ping units, and 588 34-ping units. Construction work will be completed in March of 2017, with trial-run slated from April through July of the same year. The athletes’ village will be inaugurated on August 12, 2017. Remodeling works will take place from September through December after the games.