Hau Lung-bin: Facing Up To Competition Among Asian-Pacific Cities

Hau Lung-bin, who held a profes-sorship in food science at National Taiwan University by the time he was 40, never thought he would go into politics. But in only 12 years in politics, he was twice elected to the Legislative Yuan and served as minister of the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) for two years and seven months. After leaving the EPA, he took up a post as secretary-general of the Taiwan Red Cross. Following his victory last year in the mayoral election in Taipei--a city with a Pan-Blue majority and Pan-Green minority--Hau is now set to play an even more important role in the political arena.

Unlike former Taipei mayors Chen Shui-bian and Ma Ying-jeou, both of whom were media darlings, Hau is known as man of few words. His military family background no doubt helped shape his firm, straight-shooting character. In less than two months as mayor, Hau's leadership style has already ruffled the feathers of Yen-Jen Mark Sung, who recently resigned as city Department of Health commissioner.

In fact, Hau's leadership style has always been a combination of sticking with his views on the one hand and being the sole decision maker on the other. In 2003, Pinglin Township in Taipei County obtained the backing of the Executive Yuan to hold a referendum on whether to open a freeway exit in Pinglin. Because the exit was to be located in a water conservation area that fed the Feitsui Reservoir and would have damaged the quality of the water supply, Hau opposed the project and resigned his post as EPA minister.

Now that Hau has returned to the political arena, it will be worth watching whether he will adjust his leadership style to address the even more complex problems and greater diversity of public opinion facing the Taipei City Government. The following is a summary of an interview with Mayor Hau:

Q: What is the biggest challenge globalization poses for Taipei?

A: Globalization is an era of competition among cities. In East Asia, Taipei faces competition from four great international cities: Singapore, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Tokyo. Compared to these cities, what are our niche advantages? How can we attract investment from international companies as well as tourists, and at the same time make people more willing to live here? There are challenges at every turn.

Taipei is one of the most culturally vibrant cities in the Chinese-speaking world. Our liberal democracy also makes Taipei the most creative Chinese-speaking city. China's "one step and you're there" pace of urban development is certainly very fast. In fact, we're also pretty efficient administrators, but we also have to take account of all sorts of conflicting interests--a problem they don't have in the mainland.

Q: In recent years, the Taipei and Kaohsiung municipal governments have given more and more attention to city marketing. City marketing also boosts a mayor's image. What are your plans in this respect?

A: Part and parcel of a capital city mayor's job is to have an international orientation and raise his city's visibility, but that will not necessarily raise his own political standing. My predecessor Ma Ying-jeou did a pretty good job of marketing Taipei. It makes sense to follow the model he established in this particular area. But I think that we need to step up our efforts to market Taipei inside Taiwan. Effective government is the key to marketing a city. Only if the city is well run will it attract investment and visitors from Taiwan and overseas.

Q: Urban development has reached saturation point in Taipei. Other than in Nankang and Kuantu, there's no land available for development. How can this problem be overcome?

A: Taipei City has an area of only 272 square kilometers. But a number of the cities we are competing with, notably Hong Kong, Seoul and Beijing, are very big. Compared to them, Taipei is very small. Tokyo has an area of more than 2000 square kilometers. Shanghai has 6000 square kilometers, which is a sixth of the size of all of Taiwan. As for Beijing, with a land area of 16,000 square kilometers, Taipei cannot compete in terms of manpower, land or resources.

Taipei is more than just the area of Taiwan's capital city. We intend to develop the "Northern Taiwan Metropolitan Area." Taipei City plus Taipei County have a combined land area of more than 2000 square kilometers. Together they can play in the same league as the Asia-Pacific's great cities.

This is also the reason why throughout this election campaign I stressed the importance of revitalizing the Tanshui River. The Tanshui River should not just be a river on the edge of Taipei but rather a river at the heart of Northern Taiwan. The revitalization of the Tanshui River will spur the development of old and long-neglected city and county communities and make it possible for the Northern Taiwan Region to become a nexus for their common development.

Q: Do you mean that a city marketing campaign ought to include Taipei County?

A: In Taipei County more than a million people cross the Tanshui River every day to commute to work. There are seven bridges connecting Taipei City and Taipei County. Taipei cannot exclude Taipei County, not only as far as traffic and transportation are concerned, but also public security and the environment. Although I'm the mayor of Taipei City, if I consider city marketing in the context of global competition, I have to take a broader view.

Conservatively speaking, the Northern Taiwan Metropolitan Area ought to include Taipei County and even everything north of Hsinchu. Thus in the long term it ought to encompass science and technology, airports, agriculture and seaports.

Q: Besides traffic and public security, what other areas of cooperation between Taipei City and County are on the agenda?

A: The Taipei Rapid Transit System (TRTS) is one; the Feitsui Reservoir is another. The revitalization of the Tanshui River cannot be accomplished without Taipei County. The "single-version textbooks" we are pushing for require the cooperation of Taipei County, because 30-40% of students in the public high schools in Taipei City come from Taipei County.

The merger of Taipei County and Taipei City will be a long, drawn-out process. Before that can happen, we have to begin with tangible and routine cooperation. In fact, if the city and county administrations of northern Taiwan work together, just about everything I mentioned earlier can be accomplished.

Q: You've just mentioned the revitalization of the Tanshui River, but after all this time no results have been forthcoming. What's the reason?

A: One of the main problems with the revitalization of the Tanshui River is that Taipei County's sewer systems used to be very inadequate and industrial effluents and domestic sewage were discharged into the river without any treatment. But the sewage treatment rate in Taipei County has already passed 25%. Based on our discussions with the Taipei County government, we hope that within three years 80% of the wastewater in the city and the county will be treated. My previous work as head of the EPA is the reason I've made this one of the focal points of my administration.

Q: During the primaries for the mayoral election, you seemed to have some major construction projects in mind. Do you have any specific proposals right now?

A: I'm not advocating any big construction projects. Grandiose but impractical construction projects are useless. But I think that landmark buildings can be used to spur urban renewal. They can have a boom effect, just as Taipei 101 has had on the Hsinyi Project District in eastern Taipei.

One current construction project is to redevelop the Luoyang Parking Lot, because using it to park cars is a bit of a waste of land, particularly as it is right next to the large Yuchuan Park. Once the revitalization of the Tanshui River is completed, we can adopt a combined development approach and build an observation deck and shopping mall here that will bring life to this old community. Past experience shows that when you plan to tear down and relocate blighted neighborhoods, you invariably face fierce resistance from local residents. But when land prices go up and property developers are willing to invest in a place, this promotes renewal. A prominent example is Mingshui Road in Tachih, which used to be bleak and desolate, but now the part along the bank of the Keelung River has become a luxury housing area. We are also going to rejuvenate the Tataocheng area and bring back the clothing, cuisine and culture of the early immigrants to the area. We plan to draw on this cultural heritage to develop tourism and promote the renewal of this urban district.

Q: During the past two mayoral elections, the future of Sungshan Airport was one issue of contention. Are there likely to be other plans for the airport during your tenure?

A: Sungshan Airport cannot be relocated. It plays a key role in Taipei's development and in the future it will be the airport for direct cross-strait air links. Once we've built new customs clearance facilities it will be in good shape.

In fact, during this New Year season, we're seeing a lot of mainland tourists. We hope that cross-strait relations will improve, and we also hope that the door to mainland tourists will be opened wider soon. Under the principle of reciprocity, I would very much like to visit China.

Q: You haven't been in politics long. Since you left the EPA and became mayor, how have you had to adjust your thinking? Also, the voter turnout for the recent Taipei mayoral election was pretty low. Given that ordinary people no longer trust politicians and don't believe that the political process can bring about change for the better, how are you going to rekindle their enthusiasm?

A: After I left the EPA I got some experience at the Taiwan Red Cross and came to realize that ordinary Taiwanese people are quite different from the way they are portrayed in the media. Media reports often fabricate conflict and put a negative spin on the news. Three or four days ago, a TRTS employee doing a routine inspection saw that a visually impaired passenger had fallen on the tracks. Risking his life, he jumped onto the track and rescued him. The media are just not interested in good news like this. But should a TRST employee ever slack on the job and cause a passenger to be injured, it would in all likelihood be on the front pages the day after.

It was my experience as secretary-general of the Taiwan Red Cross that most ordinary folk are warmhearted and reasonable, and have a yearning for justice. There is a lot of compassion out there. Take the Southeast Asian Tsunami: in the first two weeks following the disaster, more than 200,000 Taiwanese people donated more than NT$700 million. They did not know the victims personally, but the thought that people in faraway places were in distress prompted them to give generously. At the time the media also reported the case of a family in Kaohsiung that had three brothers who were suffering from ALD [adrenoleukodystrophy]. Within a week, members of the public donated NT$70 million to the family without asking if they were of Taiwanese or mainland Chinese ancestry, Pan-Blue or Pan-Green, or if they supported unification or independence.

When I first left the EPA I was unhappy because I had an insufficient understanding of Taiwanese society at the grassroots and felt that it was all conflict and antagonism. I still didn't have what it took to work at the Red Cross serving the majority of the people. In fact, I later realized that something had changed since I left the EPA: I now felt that working for a good cause with ordinary people was worth every effort.

Decentralized and balanced development: The business and tourism infrastructure currently being built as part of the Nankang Commerce and Trade Park form an important link in Taipei's multiple-centered urban renewal project.

Following the redevelopment of the old cigarette factory at Taipei's Sungshan, shopping areas will stretch from Chunghsiao East Road to the Hsinyi District.