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After winning one Silver and one Bronze in the International Awards for Livable Communities (LivCom)organized by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) last year, Taichung has received recognition from the UNEP once again this year. Its four entries, namely Calligraphy Greenway, Daya District, Grand Xi-Chuan Community, and Guan-Fu Community, were qualified for semi-final competition with the other 80 entries and won a Gold and three Bronzes in the final contest. Among them, Calligraphy Greenway even won the Gold Award for "Natural Projects," greatly increasing its own international visibility.
The competition for 2013 LivCom Awards was held in Xiamen, China. Led by Deputy Secretary-General Liao Jing-Zhi (廖靜芝), the Taichung City delegation consisted of Information Bureau Director-general Shi Jing-Wen (石靜文), Urban Development Bureau Deputy Director-general Li Tai-yang (李泰陽), Cultural Affairs Bureau Deputy Director-general Tseng Lern-ting (曾能汀), Daya District Chief Jiang Hui-Wen (江惠雯), and others. There were more than 200 cities taking part in the preliminary and after elimination, over 40 cities entered into the fierce semi-finals with more than 80 entries.
Deputy Mayor Huang Guo-Rong (黃國榮) and the delegation held a press conference to share the good news today (Dec. 3). “With the experience from last year,” said Deputy Mayor Huang, “we had everything well prepared in advance for this year. We asked our bureaus and their subordinate units to recommend competitive projects, screened them, and finally selected four projects, namely Calligraphy Greenway, Daya District, Grand Xi-Chuan Community, and Guan-Fu Community, to take part in the competition. We are happy that all of them have won prizes.”
Deputy Secretary-General Liao Jing-Zhi said. “The jury asked many difficult questions regarding our approaches to create a livable city, such as the green-building standards, the way to preserve traditional cultural heritage, what kind of trees we have planted on the greenery area, how residents have been involved, and the timetable of various strategic plans. We made a very good presentation and were able to answer every question and won the affirmation of judges.”
“A judge mentioned a very good concept that a country should not be assessed by its competitiveness but its ability to create livable cities.” Deputy Secretary-General Liao also said, “We are proud that Taichung City has received such an honor. We should copy this experience to other places, such as Taichung Gateway Park, and make Taichung City even more livable in the future.”
Founded in 1997, the LivCom is nicknamed as "Green Oscars". It is the World’s only Awards Competition focusing on International Best Practice regarding the management of the local environment. The objective of LivCom is to develop and share International Best Practice, with the further objective of improving the quality of life of individual citizens through the creation of ‘livable communities’. The Whole City awards are divided into five categories (A to E) according to a city’s average daytime population. In addition, there are three other awards for Natural Projects, Built Projects and Socio-Economic Projects.
Each of the four entries from Taichung City has won a prize. It is indeed a proud achievement! The Calligraphy Greenway project has even beaten the projects of South Korea and Kaohsiung City to win the Gold Award for “Natural Projects”, adding a lot of glory to Taichung City.
Well known for its “humane care” design concept, the construction of Calligraphy Greenway did not cut any tree at all but added 120 trees, instead. Its land surface has been paved with permeable materials and grass has been planted to allow the soil to breathe. As a result, the temperature along Calligraphy Greenway is usually two degrees lower than that of the surroundings. Equipped with leisure and hydrophobic facilities, Calligraphy Greenway is not only a good recreation place for citizens but also a model for environmental protection and green energy conservation.
Daya District competed in the Whole City Award for Category C - Population 75,001 to 150,000. District Chief Jiang personally answered the questions raised by the jury. She was nervous but went all out and successfully won a Bronze for her home town.
Daya converges traditional agriculture and modern technology. Strategically located, it enjoys convenient land and sea transportation. It is well known for its wheat culture, regional culture and military culture. Its residents are full of passion and vitality and vow to make their home town even more livable through resources preservation and integration, said Daya District Office.
Grand Xi-Chuan Community of West District won a Bronze for Whole City Award in Category B. Its Community Development Association recycles waste oils and used wood materials to make soap and second-hand furniture, which are not only granted to disadvantaged people but also sold to generate revenue for the Community.
Guan-Fu Community of Holi District won a Bronze for Whole City Award in Category A. It has a small population mainly engaged in agricultural activities. It is well known for its flowers, fruit and grape wines. Although a small community, it is active in a number of activities, such as parental classrooms, the elderly club, and charitable offerings.
The winning of LivCom Awards proves that Taichung City Government is committed to creating a livable city. We will never stop our efforts and hope Taichung City will be an ideal city for people to relocate in the future.