Illegal rooftop apartments are slowly being demolished, but many have learned to love them.

The News Lens
Date: 2017/12/14
By: Morley James Weston

If there is anything more iconic to Taiwan’s urban outskirts than blinking betel nut signs,

Credit: Morley J Weston

it might be the off-kilter corrugated-steel additions on nearly every rooftop. Dinglou Jiagai (頂樓加蓋), illegal rooftop apartments, have been a symptom of Taiwan’s urban expansion since the Japanese era, but a series of fires this year has led the government to take action.

On Nov. 24, 2017, nine people died in a fire in the Zhonghe neighborhood of New Taipei City, prompting reactions from Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) and New Taipei City Mayor Eric Chu (朱立倫). Two foreign students also died in a fire on a Shilin rooftop apartment on Aug. 10.

Taipei and New Taipei were spurred into action and Dec. 8 began a new campaign against the apartments. Taipei’s government hasn’t shied away from mass demolitions in the past; Da’an Forest Park in downtown Taipei was carved out from a blighted neighborhood in the 1990s. Rooftop apartments are more difficult; they must be taken down with handheld tools in crowded neighborhoods and can affect the income of building owners.    [FULL  STORY]