A unique piece of Taipei is preserved forever through the lens before being buried forever.

The News Lens
Date: 2018/01/01
By: William Yang

For someone who has spent an extensive amount of time in the United States,

Credit: William Yang

gentrification is a social phenomenon that I have been reading so much about in the past few years. However in Taiwan, this isn’t a topic that attracts much discussion simply because of the small amount of real-life examples that people can draw from. However, a historic community deep in the heart of Taipei’s affluent area around Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall is being forced out of their homes due to gentrification, or to put it in a more politically correct way, urban renewal.

Shaoxing Community, located between Xinyi Road and Renei Road, has been fighting for its survival since 2011, when National Taiwan University suddenly filed a lawsuit against the residents, accusing them of illegally settling on the school’s property. A series of public demonstrations was then organized by residents and National Taiwan University students to try to stop the school from forcing them out of their homes. Even though they were able to settle the case and reach an agreement with the university after four years of negotiation, they still can’t stop the force of urban renewal from taking over their homes. What they see now will soon become a modern yet unfamiliar scene to them in a few years.
[FULL  STORY]