Chen Qimai created four major political achievements during his tenure. (Photo by reporter Ge Youhao)
Reporter Ge Youhao/Special Report
Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chi-mai is about to step down. The outside world generally recognizes his four major political achievements, including the introduction of TSMC, the concert economy, the MRT light rail network, and the expansion of parks and green spaces. Two well-known scholars praised him for working hard for 6 years and 8 years, laying the direction and foundation for Kaohsiung's development in the next 20 years.
Kaohsiung University President Chen Qiren believes that to measure a city's governance achievements, we should not just look at a single construction project, but also whether it has formed a long-term and profound structural transformation. Chen Qimai used the power of "six years and eight years" to promote the entry of TSMC and reorganize Kaohsiung's industry and talent system; the concert economy demonstrates the governance thinking of integrating culture, harbor space and city brand.
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Chen Qiren said that in addition, the MRT and light rail networks are gradually being completed, and the park green space continues to increase, which is a response to the quality of citizens' lives and urban sustainability through public construction. These four achievements seem to belong to different fields, but in fact they jointly point to Kaohsiung's transformation from an industrial city to a technological, cultural, livable and low-carbon city. "The real value lies not only in what has been accomplished in six years, but also in laying the direction and foundation for Kaohsiung's development in the next 20 years!"
Chen Qimai introduced TSMC to set up a factory in the former CNPC Kaohsiung plant. According to CNPC's soil remediation schedule, it would take 100 years, but Kaohsiung only spent 3 years to remediate the world's largest polluted remediation site. "In a short time, the polluted site will be turned into Silicon Valley" and become an important base for global advanced chip manufacturing.
For the population in the service industry, which accounts for 60% of the population, including the catering, hotel industry, night market and other common people's economy, Chen Qimai strongly promoted the concert economy during his tenure and built the first concert brand in Taiwan; the innovative Kaohsiung Winter Amusement Park activity has attracted 9 million people in the past three years, such as Yellow Duck, 7 million Jiikawa, and 7.3 million Superheroes, effectively boosting Kaohsiung tourism.
After Chen Qimai took office, four lines of the MRT network were launched. First, the light rail was completed. The MRT yellow line project has now begun, and the red line will extend north to Luzhu and south to Linyuan. In addition, during his tenure, he completed the opening of a total of 70 special parks, "returned the land to the people" in the 70-hectare Guoling Natural Park, and created recreational areas such as the Taiwan Railway parent-child amusement park, significantly increasing Kaohsiung's green space and allowing special parks to penetrate into the community.
Ye Yaoyuan, chair professor and department chair of international studies at the University of St. Thomas in the United States, pointed out, "The results of Chen Qimai's nearly six years in power in Kaohsiung include a very important change that is not necessarily easy to measure in numbers, which is the repositioning of Kaohsiung's international image." In the past, the outside world's understanding of Taiwanese cities was that Taipei represented business and internationalization, while Kaohsiung remained a port and industrial city.
Ye Yaoyuan said that in recent years, Kaohsiung has undergone significant changes from its city appearance, public transportation to large-scale performance spaces. Through world-class concerts and international events, more foreigners have begun to understand a different Kaohsiung. "Chen Qimai's role is not only to continue urban construction, but more importantly, he and the city government team have demonstrated a very clear international vision." He believes that the internationalization of a city has never been just about the number of buildings built, but whether the world can see it and be willing to come in. From this perspective, Kaohsiung’s transformation in recent years has indeed been successful.
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During Chen Qimai's tenure, TSMC was introduced to set up a factory in the former CNPC Kaohsiung factory. (Photo by reporter Li Huizhou)
The 70-hectare Guoling Nature Park "returns land to the people." (Photo by reporter Li Huizhou)
