Planning through procrastination

Abstract

Taiwan has recently undergone a period of rapid and radical change. An important and highly contested part of this process has been the rediscovery of a cultural heritage in the built environment. In this paper, we examine a long-standing dispute over plans fi rst to redevelop and then to preserve one of the few streets in Taipei that still contains a signifi cant number of buildings dating from the late imperial and Japanese periods. In particular we look at the shifting positions adopted by the municipal government, the consistent opposition to preservation on the part of the property owners, and the critical intervention of civil society groups at a strategic moment in the story. We set this dispute within the context of the politics of planning and public space in Taiwan and the articulation of a Taiwanese culture that can be seen to stand alongside that of mainland China.