Newspaper headlines scream: "The Great Office Exodus from the Eastern District!"
And construction firms who have set up office buildings in the suburbs say things like: "The traffic is jammed, it's brutal trying to park, and prices are way too high--the three fatal wounds for offices in the Eastern District. Far sighted entrepreneurs have already begun to move."
But Professor Hsia Chu-joe of the Graduate Institute of Building and Planning of National Taiwan University isn't fazed by such dire predictions. "These financial groups! They can't cook the prices up in Taipei any more so they try to cook them up in Taipei County." He believes only a few firms have made plans to move, and it's too early to talk about "suburbanization."
"Only a few companies have the conditions to move out; if others go, their staff will jump ship." The government has spent far less in Taipei County; the lack of cultural or leisure activities and inadequate educational facilities will turn off Taipei natives.
But David J. C. Shih of the Ball WCRS Partnership argues that construction industry statistics show Taipei with only 200,000 ping of office space. "If the economy keeps growing, everybody will be forced to move out." He believes that five years from now, when the second north-south highway and the mass transit system are finished, the suburbs will flourish, just like the Eastern District today.
Professor Hsia, in turn, does not consider this "suburbanization," but merely the expansion of Taipei. It does not develop new townships, but merely consolidates the transport channels that exist between Taipei and its suburbs. This doesn't spread people out, but consolidates the city center. "This is different from metropolitan areas in the West; we have our own model."
Regardless of one's view on office suburbanization, it's a fact that shops are moving to side streets, residential areas, and basements. Just look at the comings and goings of people doing business in once residential lanes.
"The most direct affect is that the living environment in the Eastern District has deteriorated," says Fu Lung Hsu of Pacific Rehouse. Some people are forming selfhelp committees and putting up protest banners, but their success is limited.
"These are all problems caused because urban plans weren't realistic," says Howard Hu of McDonald's, Taiwan. According to the plans, only the Hsimenting area is to be entirely commercial. The Eastern District, aside from areas right along the main roads, was supposed to be all residential. Nobody expected that development would force the shops into the residential buildings.
Because areas which originally had applied for licenses as parking lots have been turned into storefront, there is a serious shortage of parking space. Today, parking spaces are snapped up at NT$2 million a shot. Real estate agents reveal that many first class residences in the area are up for sale. Looks like homeowners are already abandoning the Eastern District.
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