Two contending blueprints for the development have been drawn up by Kaohsiung City Government and the Ministry of Communications.

The main difference between the two blueprints is that Kaohsiung City Government, which is the landlord and is carrying out the initial sea reclamation work, hopes to find a new face for the city in the new land, and is wary of letting it fall into the hands of outsiders. The Ministry of Communications, however, which operates the international port at the same location and is responsible for overall future on-site development, emphasizes the national interest and sees the new territory in terms of energy resources and transportation infrastructure.

The ministry was originally scouring the island for a site to establish new deepwater port facilities, before it settled on Talinpu and joined the sea reclamation project, greatly enlarging its scale and at the same time making plans for a huge dockside area. Those plans include a 22-meter-deep seaport and an aircraft landing strip, as well as special zones for industry, free trade and a science park, and also a development area for the city itself.

"The deepwater port plan stems from our need for energy resources," says Hou Ho-shong, project manager and deepwater port planning chief. The possibilities for hydroelectric power are limited in Taiwan by natural environment, and with nuclear energy growing ever more unpopular the role played by fuel-fired power plants will be increasingly important. Almost all Taiwan's fuel needs are met by imports, and the smaller the ships that transport coal the less economical it is to import.

Plentiful dockyard space is also necessary. The deepest port on the island is Kaohsiung at 14 meters, but there is very little surplus space for coal vessels because of the container-shipping industry. Possible alternative locations for the new deepwater port facility, able to take ships of up to 20 tonnage, such as Keelung and Taichung, had to be rejected because of inadequate space or shallow shipping channels, so Kaohsiung became the final choice.

But Kaohsiung City Government, landlord of the site, did not necessarily approve of the plans. Says Mayor Wu Tun-I: "The residents of Kaohsiung have their own dreams too. Think about it, this is an expanse of land several thousands of hectares in size, with ownership in single hands and no illegal constructions in place. It is an urban planner's dream." The mayor adds that the dream of Kao- hsiung making its mark as an international tourism destination, is one he shares with the many in the city.

For years now residents of Kaohsiung have had to put up with sharing central areas of the city with heavy industry. A Taiwan Fertilizer factory, a cement-packing plant, a China Steel factory ... "We hope they can move away sooner rather than later, and certainly don't want a new influx of heavy industry to the harbor area," says Mayor Wu. He is not well disposed to the Ministry of Communications' intention to set aside space on the site for China Steel, Chinese Petroleum, Taipower and other large-scale developments, although the city and ministry are in agreement on other parts of the plan.

Mayor Wu and the city government do not want to overstress the "urban planner's dream" aspect of the site though, because its cost will be reckoned in hundreds of billions of NT dollars, which no city could carry alone. Currently the Southern Star Project is scheduled for completion in 16 - 20 years time, and if big investors cannot be found it might take 40 - 50 years. Says Mayor Wu: "if the dream cannot be realized in the foresee- able future then why emphasize it ?"

There is no direct conflict between city and ministry though, and in fact to date there has been much cooperation between them. Hou Ho-shong points out that the city government cannot actually be faulted for its espousal of the urban planning idea, and he concedes that when the ministry initially planned on a land area of 5,500 hectares, the 500 hectares that it allotted for city use "definitely underrated the city's needs." Negotiation increased the city's cut to 1,800 hectares, and led to the overall project being expanded to cover 6,700 hectares. The deepwater port facility, in addition to handling energy resources, will also be enlarged to allow for commercial shipping, which meets another of the city's needs.

But heavy industry is still a part of the plan. The ministry has indicated that it will lay out green belts and waterways to partition off residential and commercial zones, and so reduce adverse influence on citizens.

The blueprint for development at Talinpu is still undergoing approval at the Council for Economic Planning and Development, and has not yet been settled on, but things are looking a little clearer for the future in Kaohsiung.

[Picture Caption]

Mayor Wu hopes that in the future the new land can be an"urban planner's paradise."

Talinpu was once a sweep of fishery ponds. In twenty years time it could be star stretch of southern Taiwan. (photo courtesy of the Dept. of Environmental Protection, Kaohsiung)

Talinpu was once a sweep of fishery ponds. In twenty years time it could be star stretch of southern Taiwan. （photo courtesy of the Dept. of Environmental Protection, Kaohsiung）