Constructing a Framework for Economic Value of Urban Renewal in Taiwan

Abstract

Following a phase of early prosperity, Taiwan's urban centers have slowly declined, resulting in the hollowing-out of business districts and declining populations, and prompting widespread interest in urban redevelopment. To improve the quality of urban environments, not least in terms of disaster prevention, the central government's urban-renewal policy is aimed at re-inspiring local development via the introduction of funds and dynamism from the private sector. However, progress has been slow because potential private-sector partners tend to measure projects' merit and performance chiefly in financial terms, and the economic value of urban renewal remains notoriously difficult to quantify. Accordingly, this study proposes a complete economic-value framework for urban renewal in Taiwan through secondary-data methods. Specifically, this framework consists of three facets and six factors, of which the land-use value facet (comprising the land and real-estate value factors) relates to the strength of the local economy; the energy-conservation value facet's two factors are energy-use and carbon-emissions reductions; and the disaster-prevention value facet consists of reducing the likelihood of disasters, and reducing their impact.