Taipei – Main Station, Taiwan

Project partner + Ministry of Transportation and Communications, Bu- Numbers: reau of High Speed Rail, Start of reconstruction Department of Rapid Transit 2005 Systems, Taipei City Gov- Est’ed Completion ernment 2012 Cost Projects Components US$ 540,000,000 Taipei Tao-Yuan Interna- tional Airport Access MRT Size Main Station System 2 40,000 m Size Main Station area Multi-modal transportation 2 470,000 m hub for 6 transport systems Size towers (floor size) 2 C1: 207,000 m Underground station 2 D1: 306,000 m High-rise complex of retail Passengers/day (incl. iTaipei shopping 1,000,000 mall), office, hotel, and a park Sources: Google Earth 2009; service.tra.gov.tw; english.taipei.gov.tw; www.maki-and-associates.co.jp.

The “never ending construction site” + Taipei’s first rail station was opened in ers (320m and 240m) that will subse- Resources: 1891 and rebuilt in 1940 to accommodate quently become Taipei’s second tallest growing passenger traffic. Later, an un- buildings. The towers will be linked to Taipei City Government – derground railway tunnel was built to al- Main Station by a series of underground Department of Urban Devel- opment leviate traffic congestion caused by rail- tunnels while a new underground station http://english.taipei.gov.tw/u way crossings in downtown Taipei and atrium will extend for 5 stories down to dd/index.jsp?categid=5097&r with it another new, the present, station the platform level. ecordid=7684 building. After the completion of the un- Moreover – and besides the key trans- Taipei City Government – derground system in 1989 the historic portation component of the project, the Department of Rapid Transit and temporary station were both demol- Taipei Tao-Yuan International Airport Ac- Systems ished. Moreover, in 1998 the current sta- http://english.taipei.gov.tw/d cess MRT System – the Taipei Department tion was further expanded with an under- orts/index.jsp?categid=2421 of Urban Development commissioned a ground level that connects to Taipei’s Taiwan Railway Administra- “Taipei Main Station and Central Park Mass Rapid Transit System (MRT) as well tion – Taipei Station Development Project” to formulate suit- as extensive underground shopping http://service.tra.gov.tw/en/C able policy and planning solutions for the P/11434/Taipei.aspx malls in the front and back of the build- Taipei Main Station area. The project’s ing. Railway Reconstruction Bu- goal is to “shape a distinctive gateway reau http://www.rrb.gov.tw/englis Then, in 2005, the Taiwan Department of image for Taipei […] as well as enhance h/english.asp Rapid Transit Systems and the Taipei City the urban quality and character of the Government introduced another con- Taipei Main Station area”. The project is Maki and Associates www.maki-and-associates. struction project to the area giving it the also related to Taiwan’s new Arts and co.jp/e/project/49.html reputation of being a “never ending con- Cultural Initiative which will “provide a Video animation struction site”. The newest station will brand new cultural environment for arts, www.edsgroup.com.tw/image serve as a hub for six transportation sys- culture, and innovations by forming the /p040/video.WMV tems: the Taiwan Railway Administration, ‘green corridor network’ for the Capital Media coverage the Taiwan High-Speed Rail, the Airport City, as well as conserving and re- China Post 2005 “Twin Towers Express, island-wide buses, and MRT. For utilizing historical industrial estates”. to highlight Taipei by 2011” this, the administrations chose Japanese With the introduction of architecture, arts, July 9, 2005. architect Fumihiko Maki to redesign the and culture MRT tries add a “human” Public discussion forum station as well as a high-rise complex of component to seed and safety that em- http://forum.skyscraperpage. retail, office, a hotel, and a park adjunct phasizes comfort and aesthetics and turns com/showthread.php?t=13287 6 to Main Station and crowned by two tow- “MRT space into a cultural phenomenon”.

This project profile was developed by the German Research Foundation (DFG) Emmy Noether Research Project on “The Urban Renaissance Potential of Inner-City Rail Station Redevelopment Mega-Projects.” For additional information on the project: http://megaprojects.metropolitanstudies.de