Worthwhile policies, not partisan politics

On Thursday last week, Democratic Progressive Party Legislator and Taipei mayoral candidate Puma Shen (沈伯洋) proposed an urban stitching initiative designed to revitalize and pedestrianize the area surrounding the elevated Civic Boulevard highway, creating a cultural and arts corridor that links with commercial districts. Former Taipei mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) leaped to mock the proposal as foolish to the point of being unworthy of a serious response, and the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) dismissed it as wishful thinking.

On Monday, Shen responded by presenting documents from the Taipei Department of Urban Development of a similar “stitching” proposal by the Ko administration in 2020 to create a pedestrian-friendly corridor along the city’s north-south axis. When the same urban design considerations made by the previous administration are ridiculed when put forward by their political opponent, one has to wonder whether this is really a policy issue, or a political point-scoring exercise.

The Taipei Department of Urban Development’s 2020 project to improve the pedestrian environment around Jianguo Brewery and Zhongshan Girls’ High School also proposed using Civic Boulevard as an east-west axis to reconnect the areas to its north and south. It said that existing land use around the elevated highway had fragmented and under-utilized the pedestrian environment, and that landscape and connectivity improvements were needed. The findings were also included in a work report submitted to the Taipei City Council in August 2021.

Shen’s proposal for a cultural and arts corridor linked to commercial districts is not identical to the 2020 plan, and its engineering requirements, traffic impacts and costs need to be assessed. However, the idea of reconnecting fragmented urban spaces is clearly not something that has been plucked from thin air. Politicians are entitled to question its feasibility, but they should not ignore that the administration they once led looked into the same question.

KMT New Taipei City mayoral candidate Lee Shu-chuan (李四川) said that railway undergrounding has already improved the north-south divide, and that the elevated Civic Boulevard has shrunk east-west travel times. That perspective accounts for traffic engineering, but not urban design considerations. Undergrounding the railway removes a physical barrier, but how local governments design pedestrian routes and promote spatial quality activity beneath the elevated road is another matter. That vehicles can pass through quickly does not mean pedestrians can cross safely and conveniently.

As the Ko administration had already identified a direction, the immediate questions should concern what improvements have already been completed and where more work is needed.

Taipei needs continuity in governance, not the wholesale rejection of past policies each time an election rolls around. Shen should offer a comprehensive plan covering spatial design, traffic impacts, construction costs and phased implementation. Meanwhile, Chiang and Ko should explain what has already been achieved and what still needs improvement.

Urban development is a long-term undertaking, and problems do not disappear when a new mayor takes office. Political rivals might have different visions, but policy judgements must not be reduced to partisan squabbles. If the need for a pedestrian-friendly environment was recognized in 2020, today evidence-based discussions are needed around improvements. It is not the idea of reconnecting fragmented urban spaces itself that is disorientating, but how a policy line suddenly becomes unfathomable when it is proposed by someone else.

Elliot Yao is a reviewer.

Translated by Gilda Knox Streader