Perils of Unsustainable Urbanization: Insights from Taipei
Posted on : August 6, 2024Author : Aahir Banerjee
More than 50% of the world’s population today lives in urban areas. It has been estimated that by 2050, about 2.5 billion people will be added to the urban population. Asian capital cities have been growing both in size and population and becoming more vulnerable to climate change impacts. Little is known about how a city’s growth affects its vulnerability to natural disasters. Moreover, the process of urbanization is being carried out independent of plans to mitigate urban vulnerability to climate change in Asian cities.
We take up the case of the city of Taipei, Taiwan, whose population has doubled in the last few decades, compounding its vulnerability to flooding. Taipei, a prosperous city, with its reforms towards a more democratic society shall exemplify urbanization trends and its impacts on the vulnerability of modern Asian cities. Taipei is the economic and political centre of Taiwan. In order to assess its vulnerability, the geography of the city needs to be understood.
The urban area, located in the Taipei basin through which runs the Tamsui River, bears resemblance to a flat bowl surrounded by mountains, with certain areas being below the sea level. Taipei has been increasingly threatened by typhoons because of the topographic nature of the basin. The precipitation that accompanies typhoons often leads to flooding in low lying areas. Studies show that due to reduced evapotranspiration and infiltration and increased surface run-off, urbanized areas have become more prone to floods. Additionally, nighttime temperatures are warmer than daytime highs. Despite such climatic adversities, the urban area of Taipei continues to expand with an increasing number of people migrating to peri-urban areas. The Taipei City government, though taking initiatives to control flooding, is still ignoring unsustainable patterns of urban growth which increases Taipei’s vulnerability.
For balancing fast urbanization with prevention of flood damage, two strategies were adopted: moving people from flood prone areas to Linkou New Town and building a man-made floodway to divert floods. The retreat policy, which was adopted in the early 1970s, most notably in the development of Linkou New Town, was ineffective as the people were not comfortable with the relocation. Thus, there is still a lack of a retreat and resilience policy in flooding prevention.
In the 1980s, numerous dikes, pumping stations, and water gates were constructed to prevent flooding. Taipei’s comprehensive flood control project began in 1982. Storm sewer systems were designed, making the water flow from higher to lower places. The early-warning system was strengthened to reduce damage. In the 2000s, Taipei promoted ‘green space’ to provide the city with more permeable surfaces to retain water. Land-use and environmental planning has gradually become a major strategy for flood risk reduction in Taipei.
Although the Comprehensive Water Control Management Commission was established in 2006 as an integrative organization to coordinate with different departments for flood prevention, coordination problems still persisted which hampered the effectiveness of flood prevention policies. The integration between flood control engineering and land-use planning should be strengthened to reduce flood risk in Tapei.
Flood control in Taiwan is a hierarchical process managed by the Ministry of Economic Affairs, but local governments are responsible for integrating flood control into land use planning. Both levels of government aim to reduce risks and protect lives and properties. The agencies responsible for overseeing climate change policy in Taiwan are – Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the National Council for Sustainable Development (NCSD). The mitigation and adaptation actions are separated by two high-level agencies: EPA and the Council for Economic Planning and Development of Executive Yuan (CEPD).
The major policies introduced by EPA include the “Greenhouse Gas Reduction and Management Act” which is now known as the Climate Change Act. This includes the Net Zero by 2050 goal, establishing ministerial responsibilities and authorities and strengthening emission control and incentives to encourage emissions reduction, among many others.
Some of the notable initiatives of the local governments of Taipei include ‘Smart zero-carbon buildings’ which aims to achieve the goal of near-zero building emissions and ‘Zero Waste Circular Life’ targeting the achievement of zero-waste circular life cycles. Green Transport aims to build a green and friendly mode of transportation besides improving the urban system’s climate resilience and adaptability in order to make New Taipei City a resilient and livable metropolis.
The major limitation to Taiwanese policies and programs, however, is the lack of inter-governmental coordination. The EPA appears to have decreased authority to organize cross sector mitigation strategies and the Ministry of Economic Affairs has no clear actions to coordinate different sectors. There’s a conflict between the central government’s flood control management and local governments’ responsibility to incorporate these measures into urban planning. Different sectors, like land use and water resource management, do not work together effectively, leading to fragmented and inefficient plans.
The historical urban plans lacked professional input, proper implementation mechanisms, and did not consider sustainable development, leading to long-term issues in managing flood risks. Therefore, even after completing flood control projects, the city remains at a risk of extreme events like Typhoon Morakot in 2009, which brought over 2,900 mm of rain in 24 hours. The flood control projects haven’t significantly reduced the three dimensions of vulnerability—exposure, sensitivity, and adaptive capacity—in Greater Taipei. Effective flood control must integrate innovative techniques with local land use planning to address climate change.
Though various policies and measures in Taipei have significantly reduced the frequency and severity of floods over the decades, much more can be done in order to reduce the vulnerability of Taipei. Inter-governmental coordination problems, policy gaps and lack of public consensus regarding certain initiatives have deterred the fight against Taipei’s vulnerability. The vulnerability of any city is a function of its exposure and sensitivity to climatic and other stressed conditions. Cities should become resilient to stressors in order to adequately face climate change repercussions. An effort should be made to foster climate change resilience parallel with urban development and sustainability.
An effective resilience framework will render improved management of weather extremities, better planning processes, land use management and foster responsiveness from local communities towards sustainable urban development and reduce urban vulnerability in the future.
Aahir Banerjee, Flora Gia Gomes, Amal T Joseph, Edwin C Xavier
Interns
Asia in Global Affairs
The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in the text belong solely to the authors, in their personal capacity. It does not reflect the policies and perspectives of Asia in Global Affairs.
References:
- International Journal of Development Research: Urban flood resilience: A chronology of policies to prevent flooding in Taipei
- Urbanization and Sustainability Linking
Urban Ecology, Environmental Justice and Global Environmental Change edited by Christopher G. Boone and Michail Fragkias
- https://www.cca.gov.tw/en/
https://eastasiaforum.org/2023/08/12/taiwans-pioneering-pathway-to-net-zero-carbon-emissions/
https://foreigner.ntpc.gov.tw/home.jsp?id=761cdedbee8b6318
- Center for Weather Climate and Disaster Research. (2010). Typhoon Morakot report.
Ministry of Economic Affairs, Taiwan. Water Resources Agency.
Taipei City Government Urban Planning Department.
- Urban vulnerability and resilience to climate change
- Raphael, H. Martins, C. Borrego & M. Lopes
CESAM & Department of Environment and Planning, University of Aveiro, Portugal.
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