Book Description
Taiwan experienced a highly successful economic transformation in the last 50 years that produced one of Asia’s genuine ‘miracles’ of modern development, in terms of improvement in per capita income and overall quality of material well being for its citizens. The process, though, involved rapid industrialization and urbanization, and breakneck mass consumption, that inevitably resulted in rapid escalation in degradation of the island’s fragile air, water, and land, and produced some of the worst environmental pollution to be found anywhere in Asia
This book examines the causes of Taiwan's environmental predicament, engaging in Taiwan's unique geological, geographical, demographical, political, industrial, historical and economic circumstances. In addition, Jack Williams and Ch'ang-yi David Chang assess the efforts of the government, NGOs and private citizens to create a "green" environmentally sustainable island, with a high tech economy based on the silicon chip, the backbone of Taiwan’s highly successful IT industry. Finally the authors discuss what can be done to improve Taiwan's environmental future.
As the first commercially available book in English on Taiwan’s environmental problems this is an invaluable read for students and scholars interested in environmental studies, sustainable development and the island of Taiwan.
Table of Contents
- Routledge contemporary Asia series
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Preface and acknowledgements
- 1 A crowded island
- 2 The perils of development
-
3 Back from the brink
- Environmentalism and the environmental movement
- NPOs and their role
- Political parties and their roles19
- Government and its role
- Government structure for environmental protection39
- Environmental Protection Administration47
- Nature conservation
- Energy and Taiwan’s role in curbing global emissions
- Conclusion
- 4 Whose land is it?
- 5 Reflections
- Notes
- Bibliography
- Index