The Taipei City Government denies the construction of a feng shui pool in Civic Square, saying the renovation project aims to improve green cover and parent-child space.

Famous mouthpiece Zhang Yifan broke the news that the Beijing Municipal Government will build a feng shui pond in the Civic Square, questioning the city government's construction for "exemplary political achievements". The Taipei City Parks and Street Lighting Engineering Management Office stated that the Civic Plaza renovation project was not suddenly proposed recently. The Parks Office will start the renovation plan in 2022 and conduct professional design. It will be gradually adjusted in accordance with professional procedures after public procedures such as council reports, urban design review, and public explanations. The goal is to re-improve the spatial configuration of the square, plan to add children's games, parent-child rest space, and increase the green coverage area of ​​the square to create a large-scale event square with openness, sustainability and humanistic characteristics. The city government is willing to further communicate and explain public opinions.

The city government explained that it has been 30 years since the Civic Plaza was built in 1995. The facilities and landscape have gradually become outdated and do not meet the current needs of the public. The existing roads, facilities and spatial configuration have also caused problems such as space cutting in the square, inconvenience for pedestrians, and restrictions on the use of large-scale events. Therefore, the city government has launched an overall review, hoping to re-integrate the circulation, activities, leisure and all-age functions of the square to make the Civic Square more in line with the actual needs of citizens now and in the future.

The Parks Department pointed out that one of the most important purposes of this renovation is to provide children with a better play space and provide parents with a better parent-child living environment. Currently, a children's play area of ​​about 500 square meters is planned, which will be built into a forest play field that blends into the woods and terrain, increasing space for children to explore and move, and taking into account the needs of children of different ages.

Regarding the design of the pool, the Parks Department explained that the water body is part of the overall "urban forest" planning. The purpose is to increase the water green area, improve the environment and reduce the urban thermal environment. It is not a "feng pool". The mirror pool has also been adjusted in response to the opinions of the Urban Design Review Committee, and has been integrated to the north side to form a water garden, and the water depth has been reduced to meet the public's water-related needs.

Regarding the statement that "City Hall Road was closed for two years, completely ignoring the needs of the public," the Parks Department stated that the Civic Square covers an area of ​​approximately 4.26 hectares and was cut off by New Ren'ai Road and City Hall Road in the past. The renovation involves not only the square itself, but also surrounding roads, pedestrian routes, bus services, large-scale events, and traffic maintenance during construction. Therefore, an inventory of supporting facilities has been carried out simultaneously from the early stage of the plan. The spaces that were originally cut by roads will be re-sewn together, including Special Road No. 1, Yixian Road, Songgao Road, and surrounding road improvements such as Songshou Road and Songzhi Road. The improvements will be carried out in phases according to the plan. The transportation unit will also continue to conduct traffic analysis and adjustments according to the construction stage, hoping to minimize the impact of the construction.

In response to outside concerns about large-scale events such as New Year's Eve, the city government stated that the relevant impacts have been included in the assessment as early as the project planning and review stage. The square is expected to be closed for construction after the New Year's Eve activities at the end of this year, which will not affect this year's New Year's Eve activities.

The city government emphasized that public projects can be inspected by all walks of life, and relevant planning, budget and review procedures also have public information available for inquiry. In the future, the city government will continue to explain to the public according to the progress of the project and do a good job in construction management and various supporting facilities. The project is expected to be completed by the end of 2028. By then, citizens will see a new civic square that is greener, more suitable for parent-child families, and can provide children's activities and leisure functions.