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進入《TAIPEI TIMES》Cities install parasols for shade
People stand under a parasol in the Ximending area in Taipei’s Wanhua District in an undated photograph. Photo: Tung Kuan-yi, Taipei Times
By Gan Meng-lin, Tung Kuang-i and Jonathan Chin / Staff reporters, with staff writer
Taipei has shortened wait times and installed oversized parasols to provide shade at some road crossings in a trial project for the summer.
The Central Weather Administration on Thursday said that temperatures as high as 41°C are possible in the next few days, with average daytime temperatures of about 34.5°C.
The Taipei Traffic Engineering Office on Monday said that the city was cutting wait times at 750 traffic light-controlled pedestrian crossings by an average of 21 seconds to help protect people from the sweltering heat.
In addition, the city has installed two large, automated parasols at the intersection of Zhonghua and Chengdu roads, by Ximen MRT Station, and another pair at the intersection of Nanjing E and Dunhua N roads near Taipei Arena, the office said.
These shade providers are programmed to open when needed, it said.
The parasols outside Ximen MRT Station are each large enough to provide shade for about 15 people, while the pair near Taipei Arena cover about 10 people each, it said.
People under the parasols told reporters that they felt more comfortable out of the sun, although some said that they were so close to shade provided by building overhangs to be irrelevant.
The Taipei City Government also has plans to install parasols in Xinyi District （信義）.
Democratic Progressive Party （DPP） Taipei City Councilor Chien Shu-pei （簡舒培） yesterday said that the Ximen MRT parasols, in Wanhua District （萬華）, cost much less than the planned infrastructure in Xinyi.
The Wanhua parasols cost NT$300,000 to NT$400,000 （US$9,396 to US$12,527） each, while the eight automated parasols planned for Xinyi are projected to cost about NT$7.7 million apiece.
Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an （蔣萬安） said that the parasols are tailored to the location.
The devices in Xinyi, being near the shopping district, are being given special consideration given the modern and stylish environment, Chiang said.
Chien said that the mayor’s remarks were discriminatory toward Wanhua residents.
Chiang later said that all areas of Taipei are fashionable and distinctive.
DPP Legislator Puma Sheng （沈伯洋）, the party’s Taipei mayoral candidate, said that parasols installed in Kaohsiung were significantly cheaper at NT$275,000 apiece.
The office said that the smart shade umbrellas in Wanhua and outside the arena are a pilot program, while the devices in Xinyi would be a permanent public facility.
They are separate projects handled by different agencies and contractors, and should not be conflated, it said.
The Kaohsiung City Government late last month began a trial of manually foldable shade umbrellas at intersections in busy areas near public transit stations.
The Kaohsiung Mass Rapid Transit Bureau selected Kaisyuan Station on the Red Line, the area between the Red Line’s Aozihdi Station and the Heart of Love River Station on the Light Rail Line, and Cianjhen Star Station on the Light Rail Line as locations for the devices, it said.
The parasols are opened manually, and have a canvas cover for ease of use and maintenance, as well as to keep them light, it said.
The devices are intended for pedestrians only and are designed to be easily disassembled in case of typhoons, it said.
Members of the public interviewed responded positively to the parasols in Kaohsiung, saying they are needed in southern Taiwan’s heat and should be used in more places.
The use of parasols in the two cities also drew criticism from advocates of trees.
The Kaohsiung Tree Lovers group accused the Kaohsiung City Government of being “stupid,” as the parasols had been installed where trees were meant to be planted.
Trees provide shade and reduce temperatures, while parasols only provide shade, the group added.
DPP Taipei City Councilor Hung Wan-jen （洪婉臻） said that a planned site in Xinyi only needed a parasol because healthy trees were removed.
Additional reporting by Ke Yu-hao
新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES
People stand under a parasol at an intersection in Kaosiung in an undated photograph. Photo: Taipei Times
