The Cross Strait Tri-Regional City Forum, one from the series “Building up the Dream in Taichung and Astonished with City’s Beauty” (the joint exhibition of Taichung City Life and Architecture Aesthetics), was on the stage today (Feb. 5th). Mayor Hu in opening ceremony delivered his speech about city development to avoid a declining nation. He reminded us of the potential of Taichung, and articulated the new code word of the city, Taichung-Hongkong-ShenZhen, to express his willingness to develop Taichung and also to promote growth in Taiwan. 

He believed something inclined to be forgotten over the climax, and a country might decline after development boost. Taiwan seemed to neglect the emergence of cities, but the city’s constant development would be a guarantee for national development. Globalization meant lifting the border, and also reflecting the importance of cities where good management can generate decent systems for transportation, environmental protection, and education.

He pointed out the New York-London-Hong Kong story reported by Time Magazine, representing the emergence of city times. The article actually shamed the Japanese and let Singapore envy the others because they were excluded; however, the Taiwanese seemed indifferent, not emphasizing city development at all.

Mayor Hu reiterated the potential of Taichung and expected to compare Taichung-Hongkong-ShenZhen to New York-London-Hong Kong, as a new word of the city. He would like to do his best to frame the story that Taichung’s development has boosted Taiwan’s growth.

In today’s event, there were over 200 people registered, where Architect Liu Yuyang, the former assistant professor of the Chinese University of Hong Kong and the designer of MOCA Shanghai was invited to deliver his speech about “ShenZhen, city redevelopment and thinking reemerges, ShenZhen-Hong Kong Twin City Exhibition”, Ya, ChangAn, the organizer of Hong Kong Hall in 2006 Venice Biennial talked about “Hong Kong, the City Offside”, and Liu, Shuenn-Ren, the associate professor of Department of Architecture, Tunghai University and the founding editor of the Taiwan Railroad Art Network shared his concepts of ” Taichung, the Innovative City, Action and Method”.

In the meeting, there were several sessions of discussions, such as the City’s Ambition, the City’s Strategy, the City’s Insistence, the City’s Style, and the City’s Innovation to be processed, and some invited professionals, including Deputy Mayor Hsiao, had further exchanges.