The Tainan City Council passed a law June 6 aimed at preserving and reviving historic sections of the municipality, which is more than three centuries old.
“The first regulation of its kind in Taiwan, this act will facilitate the establishment of Tainan as Taiwan’s cultural capital,” Tainan Mayor Lai Ching-te said.
It also complements the national-level Cultural Heritage Preservation Act, which is very strict regarding the recognition of historic buildings and “freezes up” structures designated for protection, often leading to conflict between government and private property owners, he added.
The municipal law provides a legal basis for government sponsorship of preservation and revitalization plans initiated by communities, civic groups or property owners, according to the city’s Bureau of Cultural Affairs.
Under the new rules, the city can now effectively protect and revitalize historic quarters and structures suffering from lack of care or threatened by new development projects, the bureau said.
The law stipulates that a committee be formed to recognize streets of historic value and devise means of protecting them while also allowing for renovation for modern conveniences and fire safety, as well as the maintenance of private ownership rights.
Enactment of the ordinance came on the heels of a June 5 petition by several local preservationist groups demanding that the city government halt development projects in some of Tainan’s oldest sections.
In recent months, the unique characteristics and historic memories of several old neighborhoods have been endangered by road-widening projects, while a cluster of Japanese-era houses was partially torn down due to a lack of coordination among city agencies, according to the groups.
“The mechanisms that were in place for dealing with historic sites before the merger of Tainan city and county seem to have ceased to operate now that the two are combined,” said local environmentalist Zhao Rui-kuang.
The groups urged the municipal government to improve interagency coordination and come up with concrete policy goals if it wants Tainan to be seen as a cultural capital. (THN)