A Study on the Implementation Mechanism for Special Area Plans 

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Abstract:

Spatial Planning Act has been applied since May 1, 2016. Ministry of the Interior shall announce the National spatial plan within two years after this Act takes effect. The competent authorities of municipalities and counties (cities) shall announce the implementation of municipality and county (city) spatial plans on the date specified by the central com petent authority within two years after the announcement of the implementation of the National spatial plans ; they will also publicly post the functional zone maps on the date specified by the central competent authority within two years after the announcement of the implementation of municipality and county (city) spatial plans. And the Regional Planning Act shall cease to apply on the day the competent authorities of municipalities and counties (cities) publicly post the functional zone maps. The spatial planning system in Taiwan will turn into two level system, and responds to the specific issues and the economic development with metropolitan area plan or a specific area plan. Specific area plan is issues oriented. Therefore, specific area plan is built on the key points of comprehensive investing national land use, clarifying the conflicts and reviewing the laws. The land use in Taiwan has been multi controlled with laws and zones, and it leads to failure of land use control. When it comes to specific is sue that no established mechanism can deal with it, specific area plan will be applied with rationality and necessity. There are so many specific issues, so we have to clarify the role and the function of specific area plan and to design a initiating mechanism for it in case of disorder of spatial planning system. The project established the initiating mechanism of specific area plan to evaluate the suitability, necessity and priority of specific issues by means of lecture review and expert interview. Fur ther, we adduced some suitable issues for establishing specific area plans. The project designed four screening conditions as following: 1.The issue could be managed by spatial plan or land use control. 2.The issue involves multiple departments or multiple jurisdictional areas. 3.The issue is not caused by the failure of investigation and punishment or by lack planning coordination. 4.The issue is not manageable by single urban plan or municipality and county (city) spatial plan. The issue has to meet the criteria to initiate the specific area plan with suitability. Then we have to review the related competent authorities, laws, plans and land use control. And make sure that the issue will not be taken into consideration of the National spatial plan or be accomplished before the legal deadline. Besides, the project listed criteria for planning priority such as emergency, efficiency, data integrity, public willingness, controversy, conflict, preventability, inter department and inter jurisdictional area. The project checked the specific issues and adduced the issues which were suitable for initiating specific area plan, and we take Wuxi watershed in Taichung City (watershed management), Cinsbu tribe in Hsinchu County (indigenous land use), Baishuihu in Chiayi County (seacoast disaster prevention) for example. The analysis pointed out that the issues of watershed management and indigenous land use were suitable for initiating specific area plan. However, the national spatial plan is being established right now, t he related issues of watershed management might taken into the domain of national plan as sectoral spatial development strategies. The issues of indigenous land use involved Article 21 of the Indigenous Peoples’Basic Law, we have to consult the tribal council and to obtain consent for participating the planning establishing. Thus, the spatial plan and land use control could meet the local demand and respect the tribal habit. Specific area plan is in line with local condition, and it is also a flexible spatial plan. The specific competent authorities, municipality or county (city) governments and citizens group are authorized to propose the spatial issues that established mechanism fails to deal with. Then the central competent authority will evaluate if the issue is suitable for initiating the specific area plan. If the issue is suitable, the central competent authority will establish the specific area plan. The stakeholders could take the specific area plan as a platform of negotiation to reach a consensus. Based on the consensus, the central competent authority could establish local control regulations. By the announcement of the implementation of the control regulations, the local demand and planning objective could be further implemented to land management .