Taichung City’s first social housing development in Ankang Section, Fengyuan District is nearing completion by year’s end. To enable city residents to get a taste of the Common Good of social housing, the city government and furniture giant IKEA will jointly hold a Creative Lifestyle Exhibition themed “Make Room for Life” on Civic Square from November 18th to December 17th. Five designers have created ten Common Good outdoor lifestyle spaces of 9-15 square meters, including a mini lounge coffee shop and a neighborhood meeting room. On weekends and holidays, fun activities will be held for everyone such as a lucky draw after check-in, free snacks, and creative workshops.

A pre-exhibition press conference for the Creative Lifestyle Exhibition was held at New Taichung City Hall on Taiwan Boulevard. Mayor Lin Chia-lung, Urban Development Bureau Chief Wang Jun-jie, Housing Development Department Director Xu You-xing attended the conference, while IKEA Taiwan General Manager Adrian Worth, Taichung Store Manager Martin Clarke, and Marketing Department Director Cheng Yao-yi also joined to witness the event and welcome the opening of the Exhibition.

Explaining the concept of social housing, Urban Development Bureau Chief Wang highlighted the concept of the Common Good as an integration of local resources to provide such services as healthcare, social welfare, and youth start-ups in the common spaces of the community to enhance the power of sustainable living, which resonates with IKEA’s business concept. Endeavoring to win the World Design Capital 2022, Taichung has invited designers to help transform the city into an even more creative and livable city.

Mayor Lin indicated that Taichung has promoted “10,000 social housing in eight years ”, and the part in Ankang Section, Fengyuan District is expected to be finished by the end of the year. After the phase 1 construction, there will be 200 units available for applications starting from November 20th. It was the first social housing project to commence after the new central government took office, and it is also the first to be completed. The Taichung City Government and IKEA are now joining forces to hold the Creative Lifestyle Exhibition themed “Making Room for Life”, where the five designers transform the concept of Taichung Social Housing’s “Common Good” into an exhibition in a small room space. It is hoped to convey the idea of affordable, livable lifestyle to the youngsters, and everyone is welcomed to take a part in from November 18th.

Mayor Lin also pointed out that the social housing in Taichung embodies the Three Good One Fair concept — good location, good building, good life amenities, and fair rent (not for sale)—and that the Common Good Project combines resident care with social cohesion. The community collaborates with healthcare providers like China Medical University Hospital as well as social welfare institutions like Eden Foundation to offer the best possible comprehensive services.

Mayor Lin also thanked IKEA for contributing its resources to the youth start-up and experiment spaces in the community. He pointed out that the community will feature trial stores to support its young entrepreneurs, introducing social enterprises, and local construction foster social cohesion in the community. The idea is that the community is not just a set of housing units but rather a Big Sweet Home, making Taichung a more livable City.

IKEA Taiwan General Manager Adrian Worth said that the concept of this Taichung social housing project resonates with IKEA’s vision of “creating a better life for many people”, and it’s a pleasure to collaborate on the Creative Lifestyle Exhibition. He thanked the city government for its support and expressed the hope that this would be the beginning of more collaboration to jointly endeavor to raise the quality of life for residents in Taichung and empower people to make the most of their homes.

The "Make Room for Life” Creative Lifestyle Exhibition will be open daily at 11:00-18:00 from November 18th to December 17th on Civic Plaza. Here, five architects will demonstrate their imagination under the subjects like little budgets, small spaces, community connections, and sustainable lifestyle. Ten rooms with only 9-15 square meters will be built into showcases, including mini lounge coffee shop for micro start-ups and neighborhood living room where residents can always reach out for one another.

On weekends and holidays, fun activities will be held for everyone at the exhibition, such as lucky draws after check-in, free snacks, and creative workshops. Everyone is welcomed to join.