International Social Science Journal (Chinese Edition)

No.1, 2019

Diversity and community in heritage planning: Treasure Hill Village, Taipei, Taiwan(Abstract)

John K.C. Liu

Taipei City began a special action 20 years ago and tried to mark the peculiar dimension of urban developments in Taiwan. To designate the settlements built through low-income settlers’ own effort as cultural assets (historic settlement), the public policy concerning cultural asset designation not only redefines the new value of historic buildings, but also introduces the concept of “live conservation” to enable residents to stay and physical environment to survive. To implement the two elements, efforts have been made in last 20 years and today. The article analyzes how the social and political context in Taiwan after WWII has influenced the new accounts of cultural asset planning. It describes the special actions, conflicts and dilemma in planning Treasure Hill Village as cultural assets and the unsettled issues concerning future planning. The author’s conclusion is: only that intrinsic residents and users work together to re-create a functional community is the best way to achieve “live conservation of cultural assets”.