Relocation Debate Returns Ahead of Elections With 300-Hectare Concept in Focus
With the 2026 local elections approaching, the Songshan Airport relocation issue has heated up again. A project report by the Taipei City Government proposes planning Songshan Airport and surrounding land for an AI industrial park, a central park, and a sustainable living community, totaling 300 hectares, aiming to drive urban redevelopment through land revitalization and lifting of height restrictions. However, relocation involves outlying-island transport, medical evacuation, military protection, civil aviation, and disaster dispatch functions, with broad implications that remain difficult to settle in the short term. For the housing market, compared with long-term visions, mature living amenities, urban renewal progress, and future MRT plans may be the fundamentals more worth noting at this stage.
Nearby Apartments Up 24% in 5 Years, Still Below Songshan District Average
Statistics show that for second-hand homes over 5 years old within 500 meters of Songshan Airport, average apartment prices rose from NT$528,000 per ping to NT$655,000 per ping over the past 5 years, up 24%, higher than the 19.6% for Songshan District as a whole; apartment buildings rose from NT$722,000 per ping to NT$883,000 per ping, up 22.3%, also slightly above the 21% district-wide figure. However, based on the latest averages, nearby apartments remain 21.6% below the overall Songshan District level, and apartment buildings 7.9% lower, indicating a local price gap that may reflect location, building age, aviation height-restriction zones, airport noise, and transport factors, and is difficult to attribute to a single cause.
Height Limits Constrain Floor-Area Benefits as Aging Homes Seek Rebuilding Solutions
Under national land-use zoning, most residential land around the airport is Type-3 residential with a floor area ratio of 225%, reaching 300% for qualifying Type-3-1 sites, while residential land near Minsheng Community is further capped at no more than 200%. Many aging buildings nearby lie within restricted construction control zones, and even when qualifying for urban renewal floor-area incentives, remain subject to height limits, leaving floor area unusable at its entitled height and weighing on development returns and owner consolidation incentives. In July this year, the Taipei City Government released a revised Minsheng Community urban plan easing rebuilding restrictions for row houses, raising the building coverage ratio from 50% to 75% for qualifying height-restricted residential land in Zhuangjing Village to allow more flexible land use, meaning renewal need not wait for relocation.
Mature Amenities With MRT Still to Come as Relocation Issues Remain Unresolved
The airport area enjoys the Rongxing Garden lifestyle circle, the Zhongshan Junior High School lifestyle circle, and Minsheng Community, with relatively complete commercial, school, and medical resources, while Minsheng Community's grid streets and tree-lined sidewalks provide a stable living environment. At present only the MRT Wenhu Line serves the area, with some neighborhoods relying on bus connections or transfers, while the Minsheng-Xizhi Line is undergoing comprehensive planning and, if built, could link up the existing network. Using a horizontal height limit of 65.49 meters above sea level for some restricted zones as an example, assuming a site elevation of 10 meters, buildable height would be 55.49 meters, or about 17 stories at 3.2 meters per floor, though this is a conceptual calculation and actual projects must still comply with floor area ratios and building codes. In the near term, Songshan Airport serves as a domestic-route hub and select Northeast Asian capital routes, positioned differently from Taoyuan International Airport; within a 10- to 15-minute drive there are 9 major emergency-care hospitals, giving it a medical and disaster-relief locational advantage, alongside civil-military defense needs, so relocation still requires comprehensive evaluation of supporting measures.