Quote:
Originally Posted by East District
That is really unfortunate, every time I visit Taiwan, I always wonder why they haven't taken care of the outer aesthetics of their buildings especially because it rains so often. I know there was talk about urban renewal in these forums a while back, is there any way this system will change in the future?
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If by "system" you mean the lack of enforcement mechanism to force property owners to maintain the exterior of building, then the answer is probably no. There is not a huge political will to change how property are owned and managed in Taiwan. Once the developer sub-divides the ownership of the building into individual units, it is not their problem anymore. In the US, State laws generally holds that HOA or Co-op boards are the established legal entities that have to maintain a common interest buildings. In Taiwan, the laws are different and HOA are not as legally empowered. They are really just voluntary associations of apartment owners with very limited legal rights and responsibilities. For example, HOAs in Taiwan can't even stop apartment owners from putting up cages or a sign on their balcony to advertise their business.
So overtime, some apartment owners stop paying their HOA dues, and the HOA runs out of reserves to pay for preventive maintenance. This is why all the residential or mixed use building in Taiwan eventually look like crap.
The exception is building with undivided ownership. For example, high end office buildings or hotels where the owner has clear economic motivation to keep the building looking nice (to get maximum rent).
Quote:
Originally Posted by ed21x
Taipei 30 years ago vs now is night Vs day. It use to be 100% run down concrete. Now its about 50%. In another 20 years, it will be 25%.
I am in my mid 30s now, but I remember a time when DAAN was just developing, and was pretty much the only nice looking place in Taiwan. Now we have Banqiao, Neihu, Sonshan, Xinyi. Nangang, and Zhongshan all really clean and nice.
Seeing as how development is now shifting to western Taipei, I have no doubt the rest of the city will be taken care of. Development follows the MRT  |
Xinyi is different because most of the building there have undivided ownership. The other areas will eventually look not much different than the older parts of Taipei. I remember Tianmu looking sparkly clean in the 1980s when all the residential buildings were fairly new. But now it looks not much different than the rest of the Taipei. Those new buildings have aged and fallen into neglect once the HOA stop spending money for exterior upkeep.