In 2009, The Ministry of
Science and Technology of the Republic of China set up an industrial innovation
park at November in Chung Hsing New
Village(中興新村), a town in Nantou County. It gained a
part of the local residents’ support and at the meantime was opposed by some of
the ones.
Chung Hsing New Village is
home to the Taiwan Provincial Government. Since the dormitories and buildings
of government officials are belonged to the government, the town organization was
completely planned by the government. The town was designed in a British way in
which streets and roads are uniform and gardens are technically built to be a
space for U turn. The design made Chung Hsing New Village the first model town
of Taiwan in which public facilities are the most advanced. Besides, it remains
a couple of cultural heritages since the age when the government of Republic of
China arrived Taiwan such as the building of the Taiwan Provincial Government, White
House- domed Chung Hsing Hall, government officials’ red- roof houses, bomb
shelter No.39, the “Taiwan well known” lotus pond, the magnificent three-
building Taiwan Provincial Common History Historica, to name a few.
In these ten years, there have
been plans for an industrial innovation park to be set up in the planned zone
in the town. The government hopes that the special innovation park will help to
achieve industrial upgrades and innovation among bio-technologies in central
Taiwan. The ministry has invited domestic research institutes, such as the
Institute for Information Industry and the Industrial Technology Research
Institute, to open their innovation and incubation centers in the planned zone
in Chung Hsing New Village. Industrial investment in the park and the research
center are expected to generate a production value of between NT$15 billion and
NT$60 billion annually.
The development plan faces two
quite different sound. Some of the local residents welcome it, for there is
less and less jobs and business in Chung Hsing New Village since the Taiwan
Provincial Government was reduced by Central Government. They hope the arrival
of the industrial innovation park will bring back prosperity of the early age. While
the other culturally conscious residents stand out to oppose against the plan.
It is because the Ministry of Science and Technology wanted to impose more complete
land for the industrial park, which will reduce cost of development and
increase profit. However, it is necessarily going to pull down the original
construction including those historical heritage, greeny elegant roadside trees,
and well- designed community.
Now, the park has come into
the town and attempt to expand its land. To cater to the expectations of both
sides, the government should scout the location detailedly, understanding the
existing construction in order not to destroy the appearance of the town when
practicing the plan. As for the opposing sounds, keeping fighting against the
government is not pragmatic at all. On the contrary, they should not only help the
government realize the importance of the cultural heritages but also associate
with the government about the approach of new construction with cultural
heritages being preserved.
