Land Administration Bureau of Taichung City Government has recently changed some road designs to preserve precious trees on the century-old Taichung Sugar Factory. There are many valuable old trees in this land development project. There are 16 trees with a diameter of over 80 centimeters, 11 of which are inside the land for compensation reclaimed by Taiwan Sugar Corporation and the Corporation will continue to look after them. In addition, there are 206 trees with a diameter of less than 80 centimeters, all of which are retained in the park or on the sidewalk.

The old trees under protection are located on the planned 20M-157 road route in front of the new Chienkuo Market. As the old trees block the lanes, they should have been removed according to the original plan. However, our team has brainstormed to work out a way to change the engineering designs by concentrating the sidewalk on the north side and widening it to 12 meters wide and installing wooden pallets under the tree crowns to keep pedestrians from stepping on the trees. The tailor-made design has successfully created rooms for the old trees to grow and accompany Taichung Sugar Factory for sustainable development.

The first priority in urban planning and land development is to preserve memories of the city. The retention of precious old trees on the 12 meter-wide sidewalk in front of the elegantly styled new Chienkuo Market will surely add a new natural landscape and landmark for East District.