Taiwan Journal: The Farglory Group is described as having launched the urban regeneration model used for redevelopment in cooperation with the government of the historic Linkou and Sansia townships of Taipei County. How difficult was that process and what influence has the concept of the "digital home," as used in those projects, had on Taiwan's construction industry?
Chao Teng-hsiung: The first difficulty is acquiring land. For large-scale urban regeneration projects, as opposed to traditional small-scale construction projects, we need to obtain large tracts of land for comprehensive planning. Most land is divided into separate lots, however, which are sold through public auctions. If we fail to acquire a single piece of the land, construction projects for whole towns rather than individual buildings cannot be executed integrally or properly.
A second difficulty is that sometimes it is not that easy to reach a consensus with the relevant government agencies. Nowadays, the government tends to outsource evaluation work for construction projects to professional teams composed of dozens of scholars and experts from the private sector. When we come up with new, creative ideas for our huge projects, each member of these teams has his own opinion, which might not always allow us to bring that creativity into full play.
Another difficulty is that urban regeneration problems require making changes to an area's surroundings. This means, for example, that government agencies must use their public authority to try to map out traffic flows around the town. Traffic flow is one of the keys as to whether an urban regeneration project works or not. This is why government assistance is significant in large-scale projects like ours.
Our comprehensive urban regeneration projects were the first successful examples on the island, and we tried to give each project a dominant theme in accordance with local features. For instance, for an art-theme project, we invited artists to design the entire community, from small atriums to large public facilities. For a hot-spring theme, we tried to design houses that would enable residents to feel as comfortable as if they were at a hot-spring hotel.
Above all, for each of our urban regeneration projects, we built "digital houses" using the Fiber to the Home telecommunication system. FTTH is based on fiber-optic cables to deliver multiple advanced services through optical electronics. It also makes remote security monitoring possible. Residents can monitor every corner of their house using their cell phones, such as checking whether doors and windows are closed, gas and air conditioners are turned off, or an electric rice cooker is on before they go home.
Our digital houses also provide a telemedical service using FTTH. Every morning, residents can place a finger into an appliance, which communicates 50 aspects of their physical condition to a cooperating hospital, from where doctors are able to monitor clients' health. This service is particularly suitable for the elderly who tend to need more constant attention. Moreover, there are increasing numbers of aged people as society undergoes an overall graying. This system will probably lengthen peoples' lives and significantly reduce their medical expenses.
I call the achievements of our urban regeneration projects "an architectural revolution." For the past 5,000 years, houses have not changed drastically. Houses' external appearances and interior decors may have been slightly different, but now the multiple functions offered by home digitization have altered the fundamental concepts of the whole architecture business. Our comprehensive housing projects also integrated hardware and software from well-known international companies. Finally, this revolution is not targeted at building luxurious, overpriced mansions; we want to construct affordable houses equipped with state-of-the-art equipment for all people. As such, this revolution has relevance to the entire industry.
Q: Farglory has expanded its business operations abroad to the United States and France. What differences are involved with building houses in Taiwan and overseas?
A: In both the United States and France, construction projects are related to the development of communities. Their communities tend to be much larger, and residents prefer independent houses within the communities. Before we started construction, designated areas had been completely designed and many kinds of applications had been finished. We therefore built dozens of model houses equipped with a variety of furniture and Western interior decorations from which foreign customers could choose. After they had indicated their preferences, we started building a community of standardized and customized houses. In fact, most parts of the houses were finished beforehand in the factory, so we only had to lay the foundations and assemble the parts at the site. With this standardized operation and advance planning, it usually took us around three months to finish an entire community. This is totally different from our experience in Taiwan.
Since their communities are all within larger areas, the relevant authorities emphasized that there should be an integrated plan prior to construction. This included the house size, materials used, location of public facilities and design of road systems. This kind of integrated plan for the whole community or district is rare in Taiwan, but it is worthy of consideration as a model by local constructors.
I have much confidence in the future of the local real estate industry. As both incomes and house prices in countries overseas are higher than those in Taiwan, I believe the island's real estate sector possesses great potential for further development. As long as Taiwan's political and economic situation is stabilized, real estate, like other sectors, will benefit.
Q: Farglory has expanded its business operations over recent years. What is the significance of this strategy?
A: Farglory made a strong foothold through its property construction business, and later expanded into the finance, insurance, air cargo logistics and recreation businesses. The Farglory Free Trade Zone, for example, a build-operate-transfer project in Taoyuan County, was started in 2003. This, I believe, will be a world-class free trade commerce zone combining cargo terminals, cargo-office hybrid buildings, logistics centers, value-added manufacturing centers and operational command centers. We also entered the recreation and leisure industry by building the Farglory Ocean Park in Hualien County. This park covering 51 hectares represents a US$300 million investment and is the first ocean park located inside a national scenic area. We plan to develop similar recreational businesses elsewhere, such as at Alishan, Yangmingshan and Kending.
We are particularly proud of our most recent plan, that for the Taipei Dome Complex. Involving investment of almost US$700 million, the project to establish a world-class indoor complex on the site of the former Songshan Tobacco Factory is also being undertaken on a BOT basis with the Taipei City Government and is scheduled for completion by 2010. Our intention is not just to build a single stadium but to create an entire commercial district that includes a multifunctional stadium, department store, six-star class of hotel, movie theaters, restaurants and office buildings. In other words, the complex will contain sports, business, recreation, shopping and sightseeing facilities at the same time. As a landmark in the capital, the complex can serve to connect the Zhongxiao and Xinyi commercial districts, two of Taipei's most populous neighborhoods. I have much confidence, therefore, that this complex, once finished, will be comparable to any other stadium in the world.
The reason for expanding our business into such diverse sectors is to provide all-round services that vertically integrate various aspects of life. Through our company's highly recognizable name, customers clearly know they will receive the quality services we provide.
Q: It has been reported that Farglory is going to establish a medical science park in Houlong Township in Miaoli County. What is this project?
A: I was born in Houlong. It is well known that Miaoli is the poorest county in Taiwan and lacks many resources. Its population is already in decline and, as Miaoli has no large-scale hospital and insufficient healthcare resources, increasing numbers of patients leave their hometowns to receive treatment in other counties. This project, costing US$212.7 million, run in cooperation with the Miaoli County Government and National Health Research Institute, is my way of paying back to my hometown. It should be in operation by 2009.
The park covers a 21.36-hectare area and aims to combine both medical treatment and research facilities. It will be a large hospital focusing on the treatment of critical and chronic diseases such as cancer. It will receive assistance from the Miaoli County Public Health Bureau, Miaoli County Animal Health Inspection and Quarantine Institute, Miaoli County Chronic Disease Control Institution and Houlong Township Health Center. It will also serve as a hospice for elderly patients so that they may enjoy their twilight years. The key idea behind the park is not making money or competing with small hospitals but putting something back into my hometown and elevating the standard of local medical treatment.