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Reallocating resources across cities
By Yang Yung-nane 楊永年
Tuesday, Mar 09, 2010, Page 8
On Thursday, Jiasian Township (甲仙) in Kaohsiung County was hit by a strong
earthquake. It came as a shock for areas of Kaohsiung that suffered heavy damage
from Typhoon Morakot last year and reminded people of the threat that
earthquakes pose. Following the deadly earthquakes in Haiti and Chile, this was
another in a series of big quakes that have occurred recently. This cluster of
earthquakes has provoked a sense of crisis in many countries, and Taiwan should
face up to the threat.
Not long ago, geologists warned that Tokyo, Cairo and Los Angeles, which are all
situated in earthquake zones, could be hit by earthquakes in the near future.
Taiwan is located on the Pacific rim earthquake belt, so it will also experience
frequent earthquakes.
People around the world are thinking of how to prevent disasters and how to
minimize risk. Governments have done a lot of work on planning for disasters,
such as cutting risks by distributing resources and strengthening disaster
prevention and rescue systems. By comparison, Taiwan seems to be going against
the trend, putting little emphasis on risk distribution and resource allocation.
Although there is no need to panic about potential disasters, the threat is a
concern for many. To a large extent, this is because there are many risks and
loopholes in our prediction, warning, prevention and rescue systems. It is also
because science’s ability to predict disaster is still limited, as are the means
to cope with disasters once they occur.
Recently, some experts predicted that global warming may cause serious flooding
in the Taipei basin. Some have even suggested that the capital city should be
moved elsewhere. Moving the capital is no easy task and needs careful
consideration. However, it does raise a matter that requires urgent attention
and resolution — the high concentration of resources, and therefore of risk, in
one area. Above all, we must actively work out a set of measures to cut risk.
Taiwan’s political, economic, financial, industrial, cultural, media and other
resources are all concentrated in the Taipei region. In fact, the region is
becoming overdeveloped. Taiwan’s development blueprint is such that the nation
and the world are all seen from Taipei’s point of view, not from the viewpoints
of southern or eastern Taiwan. Most importantly, this concentration of resources
means that if Taipei is hit by a major disaster, the nation’s vitality may
suffer greatly. This excessive concentration of resources in the Greater Taipei
region has become even more acute in recent years.
An overconcentration of resources in Taipei means that risk is also concentrated
in the area. Aside from increasing overall risk, it has led to an imbalance in
national development. New York is the economic and financial center of the US,
while Washington is the political center.
Similarly, Beijing is China’s political center, while Shanghai is its economic
and financial center. Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka and other Japanese cities each occupy
a leading position in various spheres. Based on the experiences of these and
other countries, the idea that government ministries should be moved south from
Taipei is reasonable, and one the government could start considering right away.
This is especially so given that the central government has recently been
actively promoting a structural reform of government. It would be a good idea to
use impending reforms under which the country will have five special
municipalities to make long-term plans for their future. This change of
direction should go beyond the situation we saw a few years ago, when there was
talk of moving central government ministries south, but in the end, only the
Fisheries Agency moved to Kaohsiung.
Recognizing that different parts of the country have different cultural and
industrial features, the central government should, in allocating resources,
assist local authorities in developing regional governance by incorporating
their special attributes. One of the best ways to reallocate resources is to
move ministries to those areas.
For example, Greater Kaohsiung has the capacity to become the nation’s
scientific, technological and maritime center because heavy industrial
development has for a long time been concentrated around Kaohsiung, and its
industrial role would be difficult to replace. Greater Taichung could become a
center for integration and coordination of resources, given its location
offering convenient access to both northern and southern areas. Greater Tainan
could become the nation’s cultural center, as it is the island’s oldest city and
has preserved many aspects of Taiwan’s cultural heritage. The eastern part of
Taiwan could become a center for environmental protection and ecology.
Major disasters that have struck Taiwan should prompt the central government and
the legislature to seriously consider how to allocate resources in such a way as
to distribute risk. This will not just make regional development more even, but
will avoid concentrating risk.
Yang Yung-nane is a professor in the Department of Political
Science at National Cheng Kung University.
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