Focusing on the public retail market in Tainan city in the early phase of Japanese colonial rule, this paper discusses the significance of urban planning and public works in the period of Japanese rule, and clearly depicts the transition process of market policy. While the research in urban planning history or institutional history has focused on Taipei in the capital city, the paper targets Tainan, which had a history of 300 years before Japanese rule. Historical materials of this research have been compiled using the "the Public Documents of the Governor General of Taiwan's Office (台湾総督府公文類纂)", which is an administrative historical document that past studies does not fully utilize.
The conclusion of this paper is as follows.
1. Urban hygiene problems and public works
The administration of Tainan implemented projects such as installation of toilet bay, disinfection of houses, dredging of canals, sewerage maintenance, to cope with the unsanitary problem of the city. In Tainan five years after the Japanese's rule, the disorder of plague subsided and the social stability was seen. At that time, the administration aimed to establish market facilities as public works for sanitation and financial resources.
2. Consolidation of traditional markets and promotion of city remodeling
Tainan market before the Japanese rule was an open-air market or stalls. The largest scale traditional market in Tainan was Suisengugai (水仙宮街) market and Kaisengugai (開仙宮街) market.
When city remodeling was requested due to hygiene problems, the market plan was realized. However, architectural space is not planned. After that, private market opened (Meiji 33) in order to accommodate merchants. The purpose of private market was not only the hygiene issue, but also the immediate city remodeling by transferring the traditional market from the walls and the main streets.
3. Planned technical impact on public retail market
The private market was built in open space other than street, was characterized by construction plans such as the development of ground and sewers. However, the private market did not form a commercial area. After that, the public market (Meiji 38) opened at a vast site along the castle wall, integrated the block and the building, and built the two stores in the middle passage. The planning of public market directly utilized the experience of the private market.
4. Potential of the market as a platform of the merchant
The location and planning of private market had a close relationship with the urban structure, so there was a possibility of being used by merchants. As the market institution was developed, the administration abolished the private market. Through the experience of the initial privatization stage, the publicization stage was built more closely with the urban space.
