Five years after the opening of the Taichung MRT Green Line, changes in the population and housing market along the line deserve attention

It has been five years since the Taichung MRT Green Line was opened to traffic, and traffic volume continues to grow. In the first half of this year, the passenger volume exceeded 9.04 million, an increase of 8.6% compared with the same period last year; the total number of passengers entering the station in June 18 exceeded 1.51 million, and the average daily number of passengers exceeded 50,000. With the start of the Blue Line main line project on August 12, and the successive advancement of the Green Line extension and the Orange, Red, and Purple Lines, Taichung MRT has gradually shifted from a single route to a road network development, and changes in the population and housing market along the line have also attracted attention. Xianglin Real Estate Research Office pointed out that the Green Line connects Beitun, Xitun, Nantun and Wuri areas in series, and the population structure along the line has also changed. The population of Beitun District has exceeded 318,000, ranking highest among all administrative districts in Taichung. The population growth rate in the five years since it opened to traffic has been approximately 10%; the population of Nantun District has increased by 5.1%. The areas around Daqing and Wuri stations in the Southern District continue to attract population migration as rezoning developments and housing proposals increase. Among the daily average number of passengers entering each station in June this year, Taichung High Speed ​​Rail Station ranked first with approximately 18,800 passengers, followed by City Hall Station with approximately 12,400 passengers, and Wenxin Chongde, Wenxin Qing and Daqing Stations ranked third to fifth respectively. Xianglin said that the increase in MRT traffic is not simply positively related to housing prices. Land development, commercial functions, population migration and transfer conditions in station areas are important factors in whether MRT can be converted into housing market value. Lai Zhengyi, chairman of Xianglin Group and honorary chairman of the General Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said that MRT investment should be viewed from the perspective of the urban pattern in 20 to 30 years. Taichung's population and industrial activities have long crossed the administrative boundaries. There is a large amount of cross-district commuting demand between Changhua, Nantou, Miaoli and Taichung. In addition to improving transportation, MRT construction will also reallocate population, industry and residential space. Lai Zhengyi pointed out that the green line forms a north-south transportation axis, while the blue line will complement the east-west corridor. In the future, if combined with the orange line, red line, purple line and extension line, it can further connect Qingquangang International Airport, Shuinan Economic and Trade Park, high-speed rail, Taiwan Railway, Zhongke and Taichung Port, allowing Taichung to gradually move from a single core to a multi-core development. He also reminded that MRT construction should not just focus on the number of routes. The city government should simultaneously promote joint development of stations, urban planning adjustments, industrial investment, bus connections, pedestrian spaces and park-and-ride systems to avoid the situation where the MRT is open to traffic but the surrounding facilities are insufficient.