regional planning in developing countries: the case of taiwan, republic of china

SIXTH PACIFIC CONFERENCE OF THE REGIONAL SCIENCE ASSOCIATION

REGIONAL PLANNING IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES: THE CASE OF TAIWAN, REPUBLIC OF CHINA

by Foh-tsrang Tang*

1. INTRODUCTION In the early stages of economic development, economic growth may be the

only major policy goal for a developing country. After some years of progress, industrial development changes the economic structure and triggers off the ur- banization movement. Industrial distribution, environmental quality control and urban and regional problems become more important. Policy makers pay increased attention to these changes which are included on the list of economic development priorities. Urban and regional planning is then introduced to handle the problems of environmental and spatial development.

Taiwan has been well known for its rapid and stable economic growth for a long time. During the period of 1953-1978, it enjoyed very successful economic achievements. The average annual growth rates were 8.4% for GNP and GDP, 7.9% for national income, and 5.2% for per capita income. Accompanying this economic success were more unbalanced sectoral growth patterns, rapid ur- banization, deterioration of environmental quality, and other socio-economic problems. In order to solve these problems, urban and regional plans, in addition to economic development plans, were prepared for the spatial economic development of the country.

This paper gives a general introduction to regional planning in the Taiwan Area, Republic of China. We begin by defining the position of regional planning in the history of economic development plans. In this way we deduce some ideas about the position of regional planning in the minds of the policy-makers and the position of regional development in overall economic development priorities. This paper describes also the brief history of regional planning, its goals, objectives and policy for future regional development in this country. Finally, planning systems and planning problems are discussed.

Urban planning is included in the regional plans in Taiwan so they are discussed simultaneously. However, since the planning systems and planning problems of regional and urban planning are different in Taiwan, we discuss only the problems of regional planning.

* The author is Research Fellow at the Institute of Economics, Academia Sinica, National Cheng Kung University, Taiwan, Republic of China.

98 PAPERS OF THE REGIONAL SCIENCE ASSOCIATION, VOL. 46, 1981

2. THE POSITION OF REGIONAL PLANNING IN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT PLANS Regional planning is one of the items of the economic development plans.

The former emphasizes spatial structure under the guidance of the latter. Taiwan commenced its first Four Year Economic Development Plan

(FYEDP) in 1953. The Sixth FYEDP started in 1973 but was terminated one year before its target year. Because of drastic changes in the economic situation in Taiwan during the early 1970s, a Six-Year-Economic-Development-Plan was formulated and put into operation in 1976.

In the first two FYEDP's, there was no regional planning element. In the third FYEDP (1961-64), Taiwan included regional planning in its economic development plan for the first time. Urban development was then included in the social development sector in the FYEDP. In the fourth FYEDP (1965-68), urban and rural area development was also included in the social development sector. In the fifth FYEDP (1969-72), urban and community development was also included as an independent sector. The major items appearing on this new list were regional and urban development, new community development, improvement of old communities, city street projects, sewerage system project, water supply projecL and so on.

In the Six-Year-Economic-Development-Plan (1976-81), regional planning is more heavily emphasized than in previous plans. "Urban and regional plans" are formally listed in the economic development plan. New town projects are now included in the regional plan. Another new item included is "The Abate- ment of Public Nuisance" in which NT $890 million will be invested.

3. CHANGING CONTEXT OF URBAN AND REGIONAL PLANNING Urban planning began earlier than regional planning. The latter started

as recently as 1960. Urban planning in Taiwan has a history of 80 years, with the enforcement of the Taipei City Plan beginning in 1897. The past planning history can be divided into three stages:

1st stage = 1897-1960, town and city planning; 2nd stage = 1961-1970, regional planning; 3rd stage = 1971 m , islandwide comprehensive development plan-

ning.

In the In-st stage from 1897 to 1960, individual towns and cities were taken as the planning units. The planners' main concerns were the physical layout of towns and cities. Socio-economic backgrounds of the different locations were not considered in their plans. At that stage, control of the development activities of the private sector had priority over the public physical development. Plans were promulgated for 90 towns and cities throughout the island, ranging from the largest city, Taipei, to small rural townships of about 2,500 population each. The planning mechanism, functioning under the Urban Planning Law, the Building Law and the Statute of Equalization of Urban Land Right, was carried out by agencies and offices concerned with urban development at various levels of the Government.

FOH-TSRANG TANG: REGIONAL PLANNING IN TAIWAN 99

In the second planning stage from 1961 to 1970, regions instead of individual towns and cities were adopted as planning units. The 21 cities and hsiens (counties) in the island were classified into seven regions: Northern Region; Ilan Region; Hsinchu-Miaoli Re#on; Central Region; Chiayi-Yunlin Region; South- ern Region; and Eastern Region. 1 Several plans for these seven regions have been completed, some are still in progress and others are under revision. The main concerns in the regional plans were identification of regional development problems and formulation of development goals and policies. A number of pro- posals regarding distribution of population, economic activities, land use patterns, development and preservation of natural resources, and establishment of transportation network were put forward. For effective implementation of the regional plans, location of urban growth centres, such as new towns, and expansion of existing centres, were also given first priority. Individual town and city plans were prepared or revised as proposed in the regional plans. In addition, a number of industrial estate development plans were prepared and implemented to encourage the establishment of manufacturing plants, in locations designated for the purpose in the regional plans. Construction of 28 such industrial estates has already been completed and the development of more than ten additional ones is now under way. In the future, more industrial estates will be developed throughout the island in order to meet the ever-increasing demand for plant sites, and to implement the regional development goals proposed in the regional plans.

Regional Planning Law has been formulated and measures have been taken to formulate regional zoning regulations. To institute research into the various aspects of urban and regional planning and to promote regional development, an Urban Development Department was established under the former Council for International Economic Cooperation and Development (CIECD). This was later renamed the Urban Planning Department, Economic Planning Council, Executive Yuan, in 1973. Recently, its name was changed to the Department of Housing and Urban Development (DHUD), Council of Economic Planning and Development.

Continuous rapid economic growth in the past decades had brought about marked changes in Taiwan's socio-economic structure and physical development patterns. G.N.P. and per capita income have increased, living standards have improved, and the percentage of educated people in the total population has increased. However, we have observed that these economic achievements have been accompanied by deterioration of the environment, increasing traffic congestion, water and air pollution, over-concentration of population in a few urban centres and increasing regional disparity in per capita income and population growth rates.

In order to achieve the national goal, which requires both economic progress and desirable social and environmental improvements, a study on comprehensive development planning was commenced by the former Urban Develop-

The regional classification system has changed recently. These seven regions were reclassified into four larger regions.


merit Department of CIECD soon after its establishment. The aims of the study were to guide the location of future major economic activities and physical development projects, so as to maximize the positive effects, and, at the same time, to minimize the negative effects of economic development in the next two decades. As a first step toward such planning a set of guidelines for the comprehensive development of Taiwan was formulated by the end of 1971.

In the third planning stage, starting from 1971, the Taiwan area as a whole, instead of the various regions, was taken as the planning unit. The final Com- prehensive Development Planning for the Taiwan area, Republic of China has been completed and approved recently. The main concern in planning was for the allocation of major economic activities and physical development projects in the various regions. Urban development and regional growth are now considered as an integral part of comprehensive development. Furthermore, since urban development and regional growth are readily affected by changing tech- nology, social organization and human aspirations, comprehensive development planning has also taken these factors into account.

Recently, DHUD has commenced metropolitan studies. The preliminary study for the Taipei Metropolitan Area was completed in mid 1979, and the study for the Kaohsiung Metropolitan Area is under way. Metropolitan areas have been used as the planning unit for transportation planning. The Mass Transit System9lan in Taipei Area was completed in 1977, and the Mass Transit System plan in Kaohsiung has been commenced recently. Although metropolitan transportation planning was initiated several years ago, so far no metropolitan plans have emerged. Recently, planners and the urban and regional economists have discussed the necessity of a metropolitan plan, and I believe we will begin our fourth planning stage in the near future, and metropolitan areas will be the planning unit.

4. GOALS AND OBJECTIVES OF FUTURE REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT Based on the recognition of the regional disparity problem, concern for

welfare, the quality of the environment and urban life, and future trends in urban and regional development, the Comprehensive Development Plan is de- signed to integrate all the development elements to achieve the following goals and objectives A. Rational distribution of population and economic activities:

1. balanced development among regions in order to reduce their per capita income differentials;

2. establishment of an urban hierarchy which will achieve a rational distribution of population within a region;

3. coordination of transportation and communications facilities with the distribution of both population and economic activities.

B. Improvement of the living and working environment: 1. balanced development between urban and rural areas; 2. adequate provision of public facilities;


3. adequate provision of housing; 4. control of environmental pollution; 5. improvement of recreational facilities and landscape.

C. Conservation and development of natural resources: 1. conservation, development and allocation of water resources; 2. conservation and development of land resources; 3. conservation and development of other natural resources.

5. REGIONAL AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT POLICY The following development policy was formulated for the regional economies:

1. For over-crowded areas in the more developed regions: a. establishment of new manufacturing plants and expansion of existing plants

will be restricted; b. industrial estates, wholesale markets and truck centers will be developed

in outlying areas of large urban centers to facilitate the removal of plants, large wholesalers and warehouses out of these centers;

c. universities, governmental research institutes and military headquarters will be moved to the outlying areas of urban centers.

2. For the less-developed regions: a. first development priority will be given to industries with high regional

multipliers in order to make the quickest possible gains from the investments;

b. infrastructure (transportation, industrial estates, etc.) will be improved so as to reduce the disparity in investment between these and the more developed regions;

c. indigenous resources and related industries will be developed; d. in regions with a favorable investment environment, import-substitution

industries will be actively promoted; e. incentives will be provided for the inducement of investments in industries

in designated localities. B. Urban development policy: 1. Establish an urban hierarchy in this order:

[ Political arid Economic Centres of the Taiwan Area I

I I

[ Regional Centres i I

I Local Centres ] I

[ Cities and Towns [ I

[Modern Rural Settlements [

and provide sufficient public facilities to promote the functions of urban settlements at the various levels.


2. Rational distribution of urban population: a. accelerate the transformation of metropolitan areas by development of

satellite towns and cities, to check the abnormal growth in central cities; b. expand both small and medium-sized urban centres such as local centres

and important industrial and tourism towns, to divert population growth from large urban centres;

c. develop new towns to accommodate any surplus urban population. 3. Selective development:

Because of budgetary limitations, development efforts should be selective, with priority given to the following projects:

a. regional centres; b. local centres; c. important cities and towns other than regional or local centres; d. industrial estates; e. areas related to tourism; f. modern rural settlements.

4. Conservation of urban environment: The following conservation measures for urban environment will be adopted:

a. zoning; b. pollution control; c. urban renewal; d. improvement of urban aesthetics.

5. Housing: a. increase the housing investment to 3.5% or a higher percentage of G.N.P.; b. provide government support to medium and low income families for financ-

ing 16-20% of their house construction costs; c. incorporate the housing program into the urban development program.

6. PLANNING AND EXECUTION SYSTEM A. Planning hierarchy

The planning system in the Taiwan Area has the following planning hierarchy. Lower level plans are subordinate to higher level plans.

I Economic Development Plan I +

Islandwide Comprehensive t Development Plan

+ {Regional Plan I

I City and Town Plan ~ - - -

I

+ [ Metropolitan Plan [

I

_t


B. Planning Law The Regional Planning Law of 1974 is the basic law of planning in Taiwan.

It contains the goals of regional planning, administrative authority, planning authority, content of the plan, evaluation and approval of the plan, the coordi- nated urban planning with other development projects, land use control, and promotion of the development projects.

Based on the Regional Planning Law there are some subordinate laws for the implementation of the regional plans. They are: Bylaws of Regional Planning Law; Organization Code of Regional Planning Commission; Non-urban Land Use Control Code; Working Rule for Non-urban Land Use Zoning; Building Con- trol Code in the Regional Planning Implemented Area. C. Organizations

According to Regional Planning Law and its subordinate laws, the related regional planning governmental institutions can be divided by function as fol- lows

1. Administrative units Land Administrative Departments (or Bureaus) of the various levels of

government are the administrative units to supervise the planning and implementation of the regional plans. 2. Planning units

If a regional plan covers more than two provinces (or special cities), the administrative unit in the central government is also the planning unit. If a region covers more than two hsiens (counties) the administrative unit in the provincial government acts as the regional planning unit. 3. Evaluation units

Regional Planning Commissions in the various levels of the government are the evaluation units of the regional plans. The members of the Commis- sions will include officials, scholars and the local interest groups. The Commissions are set up to perform the following functions: supervision of the implementation of regional plans; evaluation and improvement of the plans and their change; research and analysis of the regional plans and other related plans; etc. 4. Approval units

The regional plans after evaluation and approval by the relevant level of the Regional Planning Commission are to be sent to the higher levels of administrative units for final approval. 5. Development units

A Regional Development Promotion Commission will be established to perform development related functions, such as suggestion, reconciliation, and promotion of the construction and development projects in the regional plans. A special function of this Commission is to provide the funds for development projects. This Commission will consist of representatives of the governmental institutions, legislative institutions, scholars, private enterprises and other interest groups.


D. Working procedures of regional plans According to the Regional Planning Laws and other related codes and

regulations, a regional plan in the Taiwan Area should follow the following working procedures:

1. Area delineation The following areas should be identified: a. appointed areas in the nationwide or regionwide comprehensive de-

velopment plans; b. those areas whose core cities are the capital, a special city, or a

provincial capital, and areas which are delineated for urban physical development;

c. other cities appointed by the Ministry of the Interior for provincial government.

2. Data collection The Regional Planning Law requires a regional plan to include data on

the following: natural environment; historical development; land use; population; the local economy; the urban system; communication and transportation; water and other public utilities; planned or current major development projects; residents' opinions to the regional development; and other necessary information. 3. Draft preparation

After analysis of the information listed in item 2, the administrative unit then obtains opinions from the relevant governmental institutions and interest groups, to assist in the formulation of the goals and objectives of the regional plan. The strategies are then developed for regional development. Most regional plans in Taiwan are planned for 20 or 25 years, and some specific items are required to be included in the plan. 4. Reference to higher administrative units for approval 5. Public notice and implementation

After the plans are approved, the planning unit will bring the plans to public notice within forty days, and make them available to the relevant local governments for exhibition for at least thirty days. 6, Re-evaluation and change

All regional plans must be re-evaluated and necessary changes made every 5 years. However, in the case of major hazards, major developments or construction projects, or suggestions by the Regional Development Pro- motion Commission, the regional plans can be altered at any time.

E. Implementation Regional planning started very late in Taiwan; the implementation system

is still incomplete, and so although several regional plans have been completed and approved, they have not been culminated. However, some demonstration projects have been tested in some areas in the Southern Region. The focus of these demonstration projects has been non-urban land use zoning.


7. REGIONAL PLANNING PROBLEMS Although Taiwan commenced her regional planning in 1961, there are sound

reasons why regional planning has not progressed to the stage of large-scale implementation.

A. Regional and urban development policies are the key elements of the regional and urban plans, but no such policies exist in Taiwan so far. Although the previous section in this paper has outlined the regional and urban policies which are stated in the Islandwide Comprehensive Development Plan, they are not the policies formally accepted and promulgated by the government. No basic studies of the regional problems have been done to formulate these policies. More basic studies are required to re-evaluate regional and urban policy and to augment development strategies.

B. Although Regional Planning Law was promulgated in 1974, the bylaws and supplementary subordinate laws mentioned in this paper still do not have legal status. Administrative regulations are the only legal basis for the implementation of the regional plans. This situation has caused bottlenecks in implementation.

C. Organizational problems still exist. Although the preceding section of this paper shows that the Regional Planning Law has classified the administrative, planning, evaluation, approval and promotion units quite clearly and very completely, no special unit has yet been established to implement the regional plans. According to the Regional Planning Law, the Regional Planning Commission (RPC) is the appropriate unit for evaluation and examination of the regional plans, but so far the RPC exists only in the Ministry of Interior, and this Com- mission has not been able to perform those functions, which are listed in the Regional Planning Law. No RPC has been established at lower levels of government.

D. Regional planning is comprehensive planning which requires many well- trained efficient planners and staff with special knowledge of planning and its execution. Since no special planning and administrative units for regional planning have been established in Taiwan, the existing part-time staff is insufficient to do a satisfactory job.

E. Most regional plans in Taiwan are developed by the Bureau of Public Works, Department of Construction, and the Taiwan Provincial Government. Because most planners in this Bureau are engineers, their technical background ensures that they emphasize physical plans, such as urban systems and communication-transportation systems, while almost completely ignoring the socio- economic elements in the regional plans. The regional plans in Taiwan are therefore partial, incomplete and physical-oriented. This not only violates the goals and objectives of the plans, but also reduces their functionality.

F. Reconciliation is also a major regional planning problem in Taiwan. By its nature, the regional plan is a comprehensive plan which covers many spatial development elements in which many governmental units are involved. The co-


operation of these governmental units is a necessary requirement for the implementation of the regional plans. Reconciliation and coordination of all these units in the planning stage is an indispensable basic measurement for success. However, since only the Bureau of Public Works undertakes all the planning jobs the lack of reconciliation and coordination between it and other governmental units will cause serious problems when plans are presented for accep- tance in the future.

G. The regional planning process, including draft drawing, evaluation, and approval is an internal process without any public participation. Public participation is possible only within the thirty days public notice period, during which it is possible to object to the land use category assigned to land. The claims are accepted only when the land use category is misclassified according to the criteria which were set up by the government without any public participation. Disagreements are therefore certain to arise from the lack of public participation. For example, many landowners have raised disagreement claims in the non-urban land use classification demonstration project in the Southern Region. There were 2,550 cases of disagreement (0.7% of the total number of cases of classification) in Pingtung Hsien, 6,716 cases (2.7%) in Kaohsiung Hsien, and 8,935 cases (1.5%) in Tainan Hsien.

H. Non-urban land use classification (in the Southern Region) is the only program of the regional plan implemented so far. This classification is very crude. The land is classified as its existing land use category, all other variables such as economic policy, characteristics of the land, demand and supply forecasting, etc., are ignored completely. This is acceptable only if we assume that the existing land use pattern is optimal and also consistent with regional development policy. Obviously this is not the case, otherwise we would have no need for a regional plan. Furthermore, no land use surveys have been undertaken. Land use categories are classified according to registered categories which are out- of-date. This explains partly why there are 18,201 cases of disagreement claims in the demonstration project in the Southern Region.

I. A sound financial program is a most important basic requirement for a successful development project. The Regional Planning Law requires a regional plan to cover necessary data, and many programs and strategies, but it does not require a financial program as part of the regional plan. This omission is detri- mental to the successful implementation of a plan. The funding problems rely upon the Regional Development Promotion Commission according the laws, but no such commissions have been established. Therefore, many of the development projects cannot be put into operation and hence the goals and objectives of the regional plans cannot be completely fulfilled.

REFERENCES

[1] Housing and Urban Development Department, Comprehensive Development Planning for Taiwan Area, Republic of China, Council for Economic Planning and Development, Executive Yuan, Republic of China, Nov. 1978.


[2] Chang Lai, Problems of Regional Planning in Taiwan, Taiwan Commercial publisher, June 1977. [3] Foh-tsrang Tang, "Regional Economics in Taiwan," Discussion Paper, Institute of Land Re-

form, Taiwan, August, 1978. [4] Economic Planning Council, Six Year Economic Development Project for Taiwan Area, Republic

of China, Executive Yuan, Republic of China, Oct. 1976.

regional planning in developing countries: the case of taiwan, republic of china

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