The Taichung City Government has been actively promoting urban waterfront revitalization. The Ruanpizai River Water Environment Improvement Project, organized by the Water Resources Bureau, has been honored with the 2025 Yuan Ye Awards in the Park Landscape category. This accolade highlights Taichung’s strong capabilities in water environment development, landscape design, and spatial aesthetics. According to the Water Resources Bureau, the project has received multiple recognitions over the years, including: in 2024, an Honorable Mention in the Facility and Environment category at the 12th Taiwan Landscape Awards; the Gold Stone Award in the Spatial Revitalization category at the 32nd Chinese Architectural Golden Stone Award; the Excellence Award in the Construction Quality category at the 25th National Golden Award for Architecture; an Honorable Mention in the Hydraulic Engineering category at the 24th Public Construction Golden Quality Award; and in 2023, the Golden Quality Award at the FIABCI-Taiwan Real Estate Excellence Awards, and the First Prize in the Large-Scale Project category of the Taichung City Safe Construction Program. These achievements reflect the city government’s outstanding performance in public construction, sustainable governance, and the creation of shared urban spaces for its citizens.
Director Fan Shih-Yi of the Water Resources Bureau noted that Ruanpizai River spans the Fengyuan and Shengang Districts and had long faced challenges such as uneven irrigation distribution, poor water quality, and fragmented park circulation, all of which had negatively impacted the overall environmental quality. To address these issues, the city government secured a subsidy of NT$117 million from the Water Resources Agency under the Ministry of Economic Affairs and allocated an additional NT$33 million from its own budget, bringing the total project cost to NT$150 million. Construction commenced in October 2022 and was completed on schedule in September 2024. Centered on three core principles—water quality purification, waterfront landscaping, and hydraulic safety—the project has comprehensively transformed the appearance of the river and its banks. It has restored environmental functionality and ecological value, allowing citizens to reconnect with the river and appreciate the beauty of the waterfront.
The Water Resources Bureau explained that the project spans approximately 1,500 meters, from Section 8 of Fengyuan Boulevard to Fengli Bridge on Sanfeng Road. The construction adopted near-natural methods and ecological design principles, incorporating features such as ecological stone revetments, meandering river imagery, and wastewater interception facilities. These were complemented by diverse plantings and integrated pedestrian pathways to create an eco-friendly and verdant riverside leisure space. The city government also worked closely with the Water Resources Agency and the Irrigation Agency to coordinate the design in the distribution of irrigation water, ensuring the river’s basic flow requirements while balancing agricultural irrigation needs and ecological sustainability. Through these efforts, the long-dry river has been revitalized with flowing water, continuing a century-old culture of irrigation and evoking the historical imagery of a prosperous Fengyuan. Looking ahead, the city government will continue to work on more near-natural water environment projects, reimagining rivers not merely as drainage systems, but as parts of urban life. This will contribute to Taichung’s vision to become a livable, resilient, and sustainable water-friendly city.