Urban Renewal and the Protection of the Minority
Date Issued
2008
Date
2008
Author(s)
Hung, Ren-Yuan
Abstract
ABSTRACT Urban renewal is the most popular issue these years in Taiwan because the government uses it as to solve urban problems and to stimulate economic conditions. That is, by reconstructing, repairing the old and dangerous architecture, residents could thus have a better circumstance and the infrastructure there could be promoted. Moreover, it could also help land developers get rarely-found land in the city. Furthermore, because the value of renewed buildings would strongly increase, the area would thus become prosperous. Not only Taiwan takes urban renewal as a major urban policy. Other countries do so as well. The act on urban renew affair, the Urban Renewal Act, was enacted in 1999. Since its enactment, there are seven revisions in less than ten years, which shows us how much the government has been relied on it. However, the act is not only concentrated on the distribution of private interests, but also on the authorization of the executive, and on the deprivation of the property of the owners. Due to the serious influences urban renewal has on the residents, how to avoid government taking “public benefit” as an excuse to harm the residents is an important issue nowadays. This thesis finds out the act emphasizes chiefly on public benefit, efficiency, and privatization, which causes lots of problems. The thesis will examine, firstly, the constitutionality of the Urban Renewal Act and, secondly, relevant cases in the administrative courts and thirdly, comparative urban regeneration systems in Japan and British. The thesis analyzes the constitutionality from three aspects: the protection of property right, right to life and personal dignity. From the property right aspect, the act fails to take every condition of the buildings into consideration, restricting renewal to reconstruction; thus, it would not meet the challenge of proportionality. Besides, the compensation made to the residents is always below market price, which makes it hard for them to restart their life in nearby area; thus, their personal dignity is ignored to some extent. From the aspect of right to life, the act fails to make carrying out urban renewal plans a duty of the government, which ends up that certain renewal plans have been provided for a very long time without accomplishment owing to lack of private inducement. By observing the cases in the courts, the thesis finds some problems in the act, for example: the validity of withdrawing the plan agreement, the validity of joining the distribution plan with conditions, the disagreement on the value evaluation, and the lack of due process of law in the renewal course. The thesis concludes that urban renewal, no matter what kind of roles privatization plays in the process, is a national duty. In short, the government shall guarantee the renewal tasks are fulfilled. To establish an adequate resident-centered urban renewal system, the following requirements should be met: empowering residents to request the government taking charge of renewal task, adjusting the renewal institution to raise funds, and fully compensating people whose property is deprived.
Subjects
Urban Renewal
Privatization
PPP
Property Right
Due process of law
Full Compensation
Type
thesis
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