Department of Urban Development, Taipei City Government

Does urban regeneration mean tearing down buildings? Are there tips to increase the willingness of urban regeneration? To spark people's imagination that urban regeneration can mean “renovation”, the Taipei City Government has put together a “Old Housing Renovation” pilot project (the Project) of public renovation and maintenance from now until November 19 in the atrium of the first floor of the city government building. The opening event on the first day of the competition was hosted by Deputy Mayor Cheng-Sheng Pong. Seven architects who participated in the pilot project drawing competition for this year (2022) took turns introducing their work. In addition to showcasing classic examples of city renovation, visitors were able to cast their vote according to their imagination of city renovation and decide the final winner of the million-dollar prize.

Deputy Mayor Cheng-Sheng Pong said that people often connect urban regeneration with “demolition”. “Rebuilding” in urban regeneration usually takes time due to property rights allocation and financial risks. On the contrary, people can see “renovation” to mean repairing and maintaining entire buildings. This type of urban regeneration both takes less time to complete with lower costs, and residents do not need to move out of their houses during renovation. The most important thing is that their living area will not be affected at all, allowing them to grow old in their old house with neighbors.

The organizer, Taipei City Urban Regeneration Office, said that in a bid to allow more people understand “renovation and maintenance”, the city government initiated a pilot project this year. In the early stages of the project, through seminars, workshops, and the companion system, 75% of willingness of seven communities was increased within 1.5 months. In addition, a drawing competition for architects was brought into the communities. Differing from other drawing competitions, people were able to vote for the winner online and on site, boosting the imagination on building renovation for local residents. In the future, the winning designs will be gradually implemented through urban regeneration review procedures.

The theme of the drawing competition is to inspire the public and show how a “renovated” city should look. In fact, the renovation of buildings concerns both the exterior of the building and residents' long-standing relationships with their neighbors. Based on this idea, the Taipei City Urban Regeneration Office has been planning policies focusing on “renovation with your neighbors”. In addition to exhibiting annual results of the 2022 public renovation and maintenance pilot project, examples of “I will renovate first” were also showcased. These projects include: Taipei City Urban Regeneration Office's long-term promotion of “Old House Transformation Award”, “New Use for Old Houses”, and “Embrace Green Life”. These projects emphasize the notion of creating comfortable living environments and space from the inside out and from a single building to a shared community space, injecting the spirit of “renovate, then age together in the local community”. 

The exhibition is held in the atrium of the first floor of the city government (No. 1, City Hall Road, Xinyi District). The exhibition runs from now until November 19. To show support for the architects, people who complete identity verification through TaipeiPASS are invited to vote for the drawing they like most in the first two days of the competition on site. The first 30 people who complete voting each day will have a chance to win mystery gifts. To save your precious time, we recommend that you download the TaipeiPASS app and register your account beforehand.