• Why we start it?
• What is an arcade?
• What we collected?
  • Policy
  • Rules
• How we processed?
  • Field visit
  • Questionnaire investigation
  • Street interview
• What data did we get?
  • Visit score
  • Questionnaire statistics
  • Interview record
• What achievement did we get?
• Bibliography
• Narrative

Visit Score

Taipei

Routes visited:

Leveled roads: No. 1-8-795, Section 5 (north side), Zhongxiao East Road, No. 32-1000, Section 5 (south side), Zhongxiao East Road.

Unleveled roads: The data is too fragmented to be counted

Remarks: Considering that the unleveled arcades in Taipei are too few, after recording a street, there are only one or two cases of arcades that do not meet the standards. Therefore, we focus on areas where arcade leveling plans have been completed.

Experience: We went to Taipei to investigate the leveling condition of the arcade. After we walked in the completely leveled place, we went to look for the road section that has not been leveled. We found that although there are some uneven roads, too narrow or blocked by shops, it is indeed much better than the situation in other cities. Even the old-looking buildings have slopes at the connection between the arcades. We found that since the 1990s, the leveling plan of the arcades has been implemented in Taipei city. From 1991 to 1998, the total length of the flattened arcades was 110,000 meters. We learned that the leveling plan of the arcades in Taipei City can be regarded as the model among the six cities.

New Taipei City

Routes visited:

Leveled roads: No. 266, Section 1, Zhongshan Road～Section 1 of Zhongshan Road & Intersection of East Hansheng Road～Intersection of Xianmin Avenue & East Hansheng Road～No. 266, Section 1

Unleveled roads: Lane 146, Nanshan Road, Nanshan Road (Jinshan Bannan Park) ~ Nanshan Road (Fuxing Road intersection)

Experience: After our actual visit, we found that the leveled arcades in New Taipei City are much easier to walk than the unleveled ones. However, on the unleveled sections, there are quite a lot of odd stuff. According to our statistics, there are 158 arcades occupied by shopkeepers or homeowners in the sections we walked through. This situation makes us very uncomfortable. It was difficult to walk on, and we sometimes even had to detour to the main road. This is very dangerous for people in wheelchairs, because a large vehicle such as a truck may hurt them. We hope New Taipei City government can improve this situation.

Taoyuan City

Routes visited:

Leveled roads: Lane 131, Section 3, Wanshou Road、Fuxing Road Old District: Datong Road、Zhonghua Road、Minsheng Road

Unleveled roads: Datong Road、Zhonghua Road、Minsheng Road

Experience: When we went to Taoyuan to explore the local arcades, we found that some arcades were well leveled. But the path was still blocked by all kinds of stuff, such as their own cars, motorcycles and the items of the store. Such behavior will result in wheelchairs, strollers and other inconvenient friends having to take great risks to detour to the main road to pass. After our survey, there are as many as 193 arcades occupied by the store, as many as 48 arcades are too narrow, and as many as 77 arcades whose height differences exceed 2 centimeter. All of the above situations make the arcade unable to be used by pedestrians normally.

Taichung City

Routes visited:

Leveled roads: Taiwan Avenue

Unleveled roads: Huamei Sreet

Experience: Taichung City is where we grew up and lived. We have witnessed Taichung Railway Station from the quaint old station to the fashionable new station. Tens of thousands of people enter and leave the railway station every day. If the road is uneven or there are many barriers, it would be very troublesome for the person holding the suitcase to move up and down. And we found that some roads around the train station have been leveled, and those roads are very easy to walk on, but there are still some areas that have not been leveled. We hope that the Taichung City Government can speed up the plan of leveling the arcades.

Tainan City

Routes visited:

Leveled roads: Zhongshan Road, Zhongzheng Road

Unleveled roads: Zhongyi Street, Huaxing Street, Zhongyong Street, Zhonghua Road

Experience: After our visit to Tainan, we found that the streets that have been leveled have green lines to indicate that the arcades are friendly. Compared with the unleveled roads, it is really convenient. On the other hand, the unrepaired roads have serious occupations of personal belongings, car and locomotive parking and other issues. When we visited the unleveled road, we saw a woman pushing a stroller but had to walk to the driveway because the arcade was blocked. In contrast, we visited the leveled streets in Tainan City and found that it not only reserved 150 cm for sidewalks, but also reserved parking spaces for locomotives.

Kaohsiung City

Routes visited:

Leveled roads: Jiuru 2nd section Jianguo 3rd section Jianguo 2nd section

Unleveled roads: Fuxing 1st Road, Railway 2nd Street, Changming Street

Experience: After visiting, we found that many arcades in Kaohsiung City are filled with motorcycles or occupied by shops. Moreover, the space of arcades is too narrow. People who use wheelchairs and strollers need to walk across the obstacle or even walk on the road. Pedestrians are in risk when walking on the road. This situation is very obvious on the unleveled road section. Another problem is that the road sections leveled in Kaohsiung are incoherent. Maybe it is because some residents do not agree with the leveling plan.