Rethinking
the Position of Planners: Rise and Fall of Activist’s Agency (A
reflection of Treasure Hill Co-living Fringeville Project) |
| In May 2004, the Culture Bureau of Taipei city government authorized the Organization of Urban Re-s (OURs) to do “The Treasure Hill Co-living Fringeville Project”. It seems the fate of Treasure Hill has been totally changed: the squatter settlement (once about to be torn down) won the chance to be preserved, and the activists (who were concerned with urban preservation and urban social movement) won the battle against the dominant trend of urban clearance and urban aesthetics. However, the critiques of this proceeding planning project have been raised day by day. The goals of this project (to struggle for the rights of the inhabitants, to persevere a squatter settlement landscape, and to create a future art village), and the methods the planners of OURs use (to collaborate with the government, to hold art festivals, and to appeal outside resources into the community) have been strongly questioned. In this paper, we will try to disclose the paradox revealed in this case. When activists adjust themselves from a critical role to an institutionalized planning role, what kind of situation and dilemma do they face? What are their responses to these new challenges? |