A group of scholars recently voiced their objection to the government's selection of Chungshin New Village in Nantou as the site for the Central Taiwan Science Park project, claiming that the village is a community of exceptional cultural and historical value and should not be sacrificed for the sake of industrial development.

The buildings in the community are low-story houses of fifty or sixty years of age and they are well-kept.

The community's design allows cars to move easily.

Such urban planning is rarely seen in Taiwan and that's what gives Chungshin New village the reputation of Garden City.

But the government now plans to develop the Higher Research Park of over 200 hectares.

Scholars criticized that the government's plan is going to ruin the historical and cultural assets of the village.

They question the governments decision of choosing the village since there are many idle industrial parks.

Central Taiwan Science Park under the National Science Council aims to raise the Building Coverage Rate and Plot Ratio Volume Fraction, which shows the government's priority is nothing but economic development at the expense of cultural environment.

Scholars who oppose the plan say that Chungshin New Village is the first new town in Taiwan and it even has its own water treatment plant.

The village has a great potential to become a part of world cultural heritage.

Therefore, scholars urge the Council for Cultural Affairs to interfere and enlist this place as an important cluster or even cultural assets.

In that way, one of the most important cultural heritages of the country's centenary can be preserved.