Jason Hu uses the motion of the planets of the solar system to analogize the development plans for Greater Taichung. The original city center is the sun at the heart of the system, and the surrounding communities are the planets, evolving in pace. (Jimmy Lin)

Jason Hu, eight-year mayor of Tai-chung City, who adheres to a philosophy of running the city like a shopkeeper, has been newly elected as the first mayor of the new Tai-chung City, a special municipality created by the old city's merger with the old Tai-chung County. Thus he takes on the great responsibility of heading the prosperous development of Taiwan's central region and facing global competition. Hu, with his international vision, has been hailed by the British media as one of the world's top ten mayors, and his good-natured personality has won him the highest approval ratings among all the heads of Taiwan's counties and cities.

Hu, who says he has been planning the course of Greater Tai-chung's development from the start, found time in his busy post-Chinese-New-Year schedule to interview with Taiwan Panorama, and outlined the three facets of his post-merger city development plans and his dream of building the Tai-chung Gateway Park City.

Will his urban development plan for Greater Tai-chung place the original Tai-chung City in the center, with the 21 cities and townships of the former county as satellite cities, or will it follow the "polycentric" model of European cities? Hu explains the three major facets of his idea:

First, the original Tai-chung City will be the city center: the better the central district develops, the better its influence will radiate out into surrounding towns and cities. He maintains that when the city and county were separated there was a constant tug of war between them, detrimental to both. Now that they're merged, they can be treated as a whole.

Next, Hu uses the analogy of the motions of the solar system. The solar system consists of more than just the sun: there are eight major planets revolving around it. Thus if the surrounding towns and cities wish to develop their strengths, they can do so without challenging the city center. For instance, there is the Hakka culture of the mountain communities, the vistas and Aboriginal culture of He-ping, the religious gatherings of Da-jia, the coastal scenery, the influence of the High Speed Rail access in -Wuri, and the development of Tai-chung Harbor, and of Taichung Airport at Qing-quan-gang: each has its advantages, and all of these should be allowed to develop on their own to preserve their natural features; the city center's radiating influence should not be the sole arbiter of their course of development.

The third is his vision for the central region of Taiwan, which includes Greater Tai-chung, Chang-hua, Nan-tou, and remoter locales such as -Miaoli and Yun-lin. While developing Greater Tai-chung, one cannot overlook Nan-tou's ample tourism resources such as the mountainous scenery of Sun Moon Lake, or the sale of agricultural products of Chang-hua like roses and fruit through the infrastructure of Greater Tai-chung. Now everyone is proceeding in pace with each other.