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The Birth of Park 1

The Birth of Taipei’s Parks

The term “park” was first seen during Japanese occupation period when the Japanese
government introduced the concept of urban planning. However, places like park and green
space that provide recreation, gatherings and activities for people have long existed. The
concept of the “park” is simply transforming the private-owned space into the public-shared
space. (Description like “public playground” is seen on the treaty book back then in the old
Shogunate era).

From a Temple’s Front Yard to a Park

There was not a public garden at all in Taiwan a century ago. Before Qing dynasty, it was
mostly in the front yard of a temple where people usually got together in their everyday
activities because the temples were the center of the villagers’ faith. Gradually, private gardens
were developed from family’s mansion. Mainly the design of the gardens inherited the
traditional man-made hills, streams and pavilions of Qing dynasty’s style. It was not only
a symbol of wealth and taste but also an apparent phenomenon of few people with power
grabbing public lands for private gardens. (For example, Taipei’s Frank Mountain area was the
Tai-koo nest, the personal library and scenery garden with hills and water, of Weiying Chen
in the early days.) It was not until the introduction of urban planning during the Japanese
occupation period that the traditional private gardens were transformed into parks opened to
public.

The Development of Taipei’s Parks in the Last Hundred Years

The constructing of parks is for the purpose of soothing people’s tension from the urban life
style and providing public entertaining spaces for civilians. Over the last hundred years, parks
changed a lot. In the early time parks were just combination of traditional private gardens
with flowers and trees and man-made ponds, pavilions and hills and public spaces in front of
temples. Later on, museum, statues and historical relics sites were added into part of a park.
Hence, the park is not only a place providing security, public hygiene, recreations, gatherings,
disaster prevention, and shelters but also a spiritual support for the civilians, an important
public space and an important contributor that witness Taipei’s development of civilization.

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