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Aerotropolis could be
simply pie in the sky
By Chan Shun-kuei ¸â¶¶¶Q
Last week, the government announced the launch of the 6,150 hectare Taoyuan
Aerotropolis project ˇX requiring the expropriation of 3,211 hectares of land,
the demolition of 15,000 houses and affecting the lives of 48,000 people. The
government says the NT$463 billion (US$15.8 billion) project is to make Taoyuan
International Airport a transport hub for East Asia, generating NT$2.3 trillion
in economic benefits, NT$84 billion in tax revenue and generating 260,000 jobs.
If the project looks good on paper, without a doubt everyone will be happy, so
long as the evicted residents are kept informed, well compensated and relocated
effectively. However, with the exception of the zoning of the 1,770 hectare
Airport Special Zone, which includes a third runway and the 705 hectares of
expropriated land to be used for the Quality Living Area, details are scarce on
the Aviation Services Living Area, the Trade Exhibition Area, the
Airport-compatible Industrial Area, the Coastal Recreational Area, the
Value-added Agriculture Exhibition and Trade Area and the Free Trade Zone,
however impressive-sounding their names may be.
It is by no means clear that businesses will actually be enticed to locate
there, especially since the Free Trade Zone will face the 4,435 hectare Taipei
Harbor development that lies just to the north. It was only last year that the
highly controversial evictions, demolitions and relocations for the harbor
project were finished, so it is still impossible to know how successful attempts
to attract businesses to its industrial and recreational areas will be.
Now the government is proposing another, even more ambitious plan, but it is
difficult to see how simply drawing up these plans will stimulate economic
development and create jobs if domestic industries do not become more
competitive. All it will do is fuel land speculation and inconvenience thousands
of people.
The government predicts that by 2030 Taoyuan airportˇ¦s annual passenger traffic
capacity will increase to 75 million. According to the airportˇ¦s Web site, the
highest figure for passenger traffic was in 2010, when it stood at 25.11
million, slipping to 24.05 million the next year. How did the government come up
with the optimistic estimate for 2030 which amounts to three times current
levels?
Wildly inflated claims do nobody any good. What we need to see is substantive,
detailed forecast analysis of how the government proposes to increase tax
revenue by NT$84 billion and create 260,000 new jobs. I have heard countless
economists, urban planners and think tank members express doubts about this
plan. They have their own name for it. Far be it for me to badmouth the idea, I
am simply trying to caution the government not to rush into things, especially
when it involves expropriating so much land and forcing people to move. Caution
is advised.
Land is limited and we cannot afford to take it up with under-used industrial
parks. The plan is suffering from a reality deficit. It is incumbent upon the
Control Yuan to set the Cabinet straight.
President Ma Ying-jeou (°¨^¤E) has willingly signed up to the UNˇ¦s International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and its International Covenant on
Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR). He has created legislation
subordinating domestic law to the covenants and obliging the government to
implement them. The ICESCR requires the government to guarantee the right to
housing and forbids forced evictions solely for reasons of economic development.
Yet the government is contemplating embarking upon the largest program of
evictions in Taiwanˇ¦s history, which will affect huge numbers of people, not
just in the name of economic development, but as sacrifices for politicians
desperate to hold on to power.
Chan Shun-kuei is a lawyer.
Translated by Paul Cooper
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