This project involved a series of studies for the redevelopment of about 600 hectares of industrial area near a major port in this city in Taiwan.

The port of Kaohsiung is the city’s major asset, and the site of much of its daily activity. It is important to recognize the unique nature of this asset: to educate people about it, and indeed, to celebrate it. Although the primarily industrial land uses associated with the port are not always very pretty, there is beauty in the kinetic nature of the activity: everyone and everything is always on the move, twenty four hours a day. It can be fascinating to watch, and when it is lit up at night, it can be very attractive (witness Hong Kong).

As the city has grown and modernized, industrial facilities have been moving south where there is a greater amount of land and traffic is less of a problem. The CBD has also been moving around somewhat, primarily away from the congested and polluted waterfront. As a result, the city is quite spread out, and there are a number of “sub-centers”, connected by ring roads. The newest and largest of these commercial/business areas lies directly north of the site. 

As land prices rise and development pressure increases on the industrial land, it is expected that it will be given over to commercial development. The government recognized this trend and sought to guide the process towards a more comprehensive and planned environment, with the kind of public amenities that characterize other, world-class cities. It also sought to re-connect the city with its busy and visually active waterfront, once the industrial uses have been re-located. Major issues related to land use, density, open space distribution, waterfront activities, traffic circulation, and the future skyline were all reviewed.

Originally the government had hired Haigo Shen planners simply to determine the size of the roads, re-parcelize the land with a more fine grain grid, and develop a phasing strategy. Essentially, a very conservative approach which built upon the existing fabric and did not try to do anything radical. Later, they went on to hold an “international” design competition for which the submittals were very ambitious, or unrealistic, depending on your point of view. Some required extensive landfill, others completely redefined the city fabric with diagonals, new artificial waterways, etc. In the end, all of this was seen as a waste of time, and the city came back and asked Haigo Shen to develop a more detailed set of design guidelines for the more conservative scheme. These images depict the result of some of the explorations undertaken as part of that work.

Significant industrial uses have been relocated and portions of the plan have been implemented, such as the waterfront open spaces.

Role: Brian Jennett led the design and production for this effort while working as an Urban Planner and Designer for Haigo Shen in Taiwan. The perspectives represent the very early days of three-dimensional computer drawings (late 1990s).