Abstract
This paper deals with the changes in Taipei's urban planning and urban transformation under Japanese colonial rule. Taiwan was Japan's first colony beginning in 1895. Japan's colonial policy did not fully evolve, in fact, at the beginning it was rather chaotic in its direction and character. As a part of these developments, colonial urban planning is closely connected to colonial policy making. Japanese colonial policy can be divided into three periods. First, the period 1895-1919 when political consolidation through harsh civil controls was evident. The law enforced in Taiwan was clearly different from that of the Suzerain state. Second, the period 1919-1936 when assimilation policy was characterised by civil controls and demands for home rule. Finally the period 1936-1945 when Kominka (forced assimilation) was imposed to indoctrinate the people into worshiping the Japanese Emperor's godly power. Urban planning was directed according to the policies of the day. In the first stage the purpose was to create colonial space to demonstrate the power of the colonial government. Examples are the construction of distinguished buildings such as the Sotoku-fu (Government Offices) and other magnificient buildings within the Jonai (Walled Citv). Together with the religious space of the Maruyama district where the Taiwan Jinjya (Shrine) and other monuments were constructed, the Jonai has become a sighificant monument to the Japanese colonial period. During the assimilation period, urban planning was distinctly characterised by advanced technolohy and new methods employed. The latest methods of urban planning were adopted and some which were not even used in Japan. Under the forced assimilation policy, new advanced technologies such as land readjustment and zoning were fully applied in the construction work. The widening of the Chokushi Kaido (Highway) connecting the Jonai district with the Taiwan Jinjya. Taiwanese urban planning law was enforced in 1936. The contents of this law was very much designed to meet the needs of the colonial policy and urban planning goals of the day. As a result of the changes in urban planning Taipei's development was transformed dramatically. The most exclusive feature of these urban space devel opments was the segregation of Japanese and local Taiwanese residents. Despite the general rule that urban planning essentially pursues a homogeneous space, the Taipei urban space reveals a policy that produced a distinctive spatial separation between the Japanese and Taiwanese which in reality mirrored the colonial urban structure which enforced the colonial rule.
