Introduction 

Appraisal of the Taichung City General Plan (TCGP)

Feng Chia University TCGP Research Group 2000/2001

Taichung City is located at the central part of the Taiwan Island. It has a land area of 163 km². Total population in 2000 is close to one million (0.95 million). Taichung City is the center of commerce, education, culture and recreation of central Taiwan. The City Government is a provincial-status city with an annual budget around NT$30 billion.

The Taichung City General Plan is a policy statement of the Taichung City Government and sets the framework of future municipal programs and projects in accordance with the 1987 Executive Order by the Ministry of Interiors.

The 1989 Taichung City General Plan (the Plan) was completed with assistance from the Department of Urban Planning at the National Cheng-kung University. The Plan envisioned the future of Taichung City as 'an international city with commercial and cultural vitality.' The Plan includes three sections: Vision Statement, Ten Sectoral Plans, and Implementation Programs. The Vision Statement contains assessment of existing conditions, goals and objectives, and future prospect. The Ten Sectoral Plans are urban economic and industrial development, urban spatial structure, public facilities and infrastructure, land use, transportation, recreation and tourism, education and culture, public safety, social welfare and health, environmental protection, and fiscal policy. The Implementation Programs are grouped into short-term, med-term, and long-term categories.

The Feng Chia University TCGP Research Group is charged with the appraisal of the 1989 General Plan. Focus of the Appraisal works will be in three areas: examination of the Vision Statement to reflect changing global and domestic environments, additions of three new sectoral plans (housing and community, disaster planning and prevention, and information system), and renewal of all implementation programs and projects. The City Government also requires the TCGP Research Group to produce a WWW-GIS homepage for public access as well as an animation software that provide interactive information about the future development of the city. The project will be completed at the end of 2001.