Taipei City Government

Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je attended the public housing construction project groundbreaking ceremony located on the site of a former recycling center on Sanxing Section of Xinyi District on September 4.

During his speech, he first thanked everyone for joining the ceremony and explained that public housing in Taipei serves 4 major purposes: implementing housing justice, improving urban aesthetics, facilitating a smart construction industry, and introducing a new social formation. In the past, public housing is often considered a NIMBY (not in my backyard) facility; however, it has evolved over the last 4 years and it is no longer considered unwelcomed, and some borough chiefs are even vying for more draws in the public housing lottery, indicating that citizens have changed their opinions about public housing.

Mayor Ko mentioned that the Sanxing Section, 3th Subsection construction site covers an area of 11,039.82m2, and the total construction cost is NT$2.632 billion. Consisting of 3 basement floors and 19 floors above ground, the project provides public housing for 560 households. He said that the main reason why society's impression can be changed is because it caters to the community's needs by offering public spaces such as stores, disabled care centers, daycares, community activity centers, library/family reading rooms, fitness centers/yoga classrooms, exhibition/performing spaces, and culinary classrooms.

The mayor commented that when he inspected Jiankang Public Housing yesterday, he noticed there was a community activity center and daycare center on the lower levels of the building. Most importantly, one-tenth of the households acquired an apartment via application instead of lottery. Applicants are required to contemplate how they can contribute to community development. Yesterday, he noticed young people hosting family education, where neighborhood interaction is fostered by scheduling shifts to conduct classes. In addition, the community also makes effective use of surplus food from nearby markets, and Mayor Ko said with a smile that he did not know making dumplings is the perfect solution to surplus food until yesterday. Meanwhile, making dumplings is also an ideal approach to community development.

For instance, Ko remarked that even though he lives in an apartment, he is not familiar with his neighbors upstairs and downstairs, while on the contrary residents of Jiankang Public Housing all know one another. Therefore, in addition to housing justice, urban aesthetics, and facilitating developments in the smart construction industry, he expects public housing in the future to be able to engender a spirit of community development. Lastly, Mayor Ko expressed his thanks to the builder and prayed for a successful construction process.