Taipei City promises new park
Taiwan News
Date: 2015-11-17
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer
TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – The removal of Taipei Songshan Airport from the capital will be
Songshan Airport to close by 2020. Central News Agency
completed by 2020, with no aircraft landing or taking off anymore, Taipei City Vice Mayor Charles Lin said at a forum Tuesday.
The issue of the airport closure first became a major issue during the 2002 mayoral election, but the topic gained importance as Songshan was transformed from a mere domestic hub to an airport for flights to and from China and several East Asian cities.
“The sky above the capital will see an end to its martial law, and Songshan Airport will no longer fly any airplanes,” Lin was quoted as telling a multi-party forum at the Ministry of Transportation.
He reportedly also promised that most of the land would be converted to parkland, maybe along the lines of what opposition mayoral candidate Lee Ying-yuan promised during the 2002 election, when he said he wanted to set up a local version of New York’s Central Park.
