The scale of Taiwan’s modern cities had begun to develop since the period of Japanese rule, as the state power had conducted the reformation and planning of the urban space systematically. The cities in early Taiwan had mostly formed by natural environmental factors gradually.
The economic and political center of Taiwan’s central region was Changhua County during the period of Qing rule, which had then transferred to the present-day Taichung City in the period of Japanese rule. The development of Taichung City started with the Capital Project by Liu Ming-Chuan in the end of Qing Dynasty and underwent the planning and management of the Office of Taiwan Governor-General to gradually accomplish the scope of the entire city.
This dissertation explores the development of urbanization and social change of Taichung City from the aspects of population, settlement, transportation and industry respectively through six chapters such as formation of Taichung settlement, establishment of the Japanese ruling system, change and structure of population, urban planning and transportation plan, transformation of urban function, and change of social culture. Taichung City had transformed from the East Dadun Street into a modernized city and turned from a farm-village settlement into a regional center of the central area gathering farm products and supplying daily commodities. Its major pushing force was the state power that facilitated its rapid development.
The findings of this study indicate that Taichung City had continuously expanded its range of settlement due to population increase, resulting in an ever-extended scope of urban planning to accommodate more population; its population increase raised the work and employment opportunities so that its industrial mode no longer depended on traditional farming but turned to being mainly commercial and industrial, and the development of commercial and industrial business had also increased the population in service industry so that the industrial population were largely in the secondary and tertiary industries; and the completion of transportation network had enabled the village residents to flock to the city for living activities like business, recreation and education, while convenient transportation had gathered up the surrounding farm products in Taichung City for processing or trading. And the essential factor for population increase is that Taichung City was the political center of the central region. All the major organizations of Taichung Prefecture were almost located here. The residents lived under the systems planned and completed by the Office of Taiwan Governor-General. They carried out economic and educational activities through multilayer systems, and even their recreational life was within the system or space mapped out by the government.
The development of Taichung City had come from the systematic town plans and urban planning. The change of urban plan, establishment of public facilities, and building of transportation network had further altered the economy and industry, which then brought about social change. These were systematic social changes that would continue endlessly. The town planning had influenced the economic and industrial structure, which had further affected the living styles of residents. This is the essential reason that Taichung City had become a significant city of the middle Taiwan and replaced Chuanghua as the economic, political and cultural center of the central region.