The ROC Ministry of the Interior passed a draft act on national land planning Oct. 30, moving a step further toward sustainable development in land use.
The country’s land will be classified into four zones based on conservation, marine, agricultural and urban use, with land-use plans to be developed on a national, city and county basis, the MOI said.
“To enhance public participation in policymaking, exhibitions and public hearings will be required at all stages of national land planning, review and implementation, and relevant information will have to be readily accessible,” the ministry said.
“The draft act also stipulates that the government budget NT$100 billion (US$2.4 billion) to compensate those whose rights are affected due to particular public interests.”
The MOI will be responsible for relevant planning on the national level in the first two years of the law’s implementation, after which local governments will map out land use in their areas.
“Following recent natural disasters, changes in international and cross-strait economic ties, construction of the high speed railway and the ongoing Taoyuan Aerotropolis project, spatial planning by a single agency cannot meet the needs of social development, which involves homeland security, ecological protection, resource conservation, food security, economic development and urban and rural management,” the MOI pointed out.
This version of the land planning law differs from a 2009 draft by giving more attention to feasibility of implementation, providing extra protections for land once it has been put in a certain category. “For example, it will be very difficult to reclassify prime agricultural land for other uses,” the MOI said.
The draft act has already been sent to the Cabinet for review, the ministry added. (THN)
Write to Grace Kuo at mlkuo@mofa.gov.tw