Project Overview
The site was originally the Longteng Military Camp. After troop reductions in 1987, the camp was transferred to the First Special Police Corps. Following organizational reforms, the First Special Police Corps relocated in 2017, leaving the site vacant. In 2018, the Taoyuan City Government initially planned to use the site for social housing. However, ecological surveys discovered the presence of the Chinese Yellow Oriole, a first-class protected species. Considering the presence of numerous other native flora and fauna, including beetles, dragonflies, Chinese Bulbuls, Black-crowned Night Herons, Crested Goshawks, Egrets, Taiwan Barbets, Brown Shrikes, Taiwan Kukri Snakes, and Chinese Ratsnakes, the Department of City Public Works proposed creating a new urban oasis in the city center, similar to Taipei’s Daan Forest Park, thus establishing the positioning of Danan Forest Park.
To accommodate biodiversity, Danan Forest Park in Bade District focuses on creating various ecological landscapes, including forests, secondary forests, grass slopes, wetlands, depressions, and retention ponds. This provides wildlife-friendly habitats while developing environmental education venues, offering Taoyuan citizens a metropolitan forest park that combines ecological habitat, disaster prevention, flood control, and recreational functions.
The park features diverse landscape areas including a central pond, flood retention recreation meadow, forest wetlands, forest classrooms, woodland streams, butterfly gardens, and activity lawns. Through collaboration with various city government departments, old buildings are repurposed following adaptive reuse principles, such as the Department of Cultural Affairs’s Bakuoicuo Folk Art Village, Municipal Library Children’s Toy Library, the Department of Social Affairs’s Care Station and Food Bank, and neighborhood community centers. Beyond outdoor natural landscapes for enjoyment, the park offers numerous environmental education venues and community interaction spaces, creating a more multifunctional complex.
Implementation Benefits
(1) Reduced Local Flooding Risk
The project includes outflow control planning, with increased green coverage and water retention areas. An underground drainage system, combined with powered pumps, actively manages water levels throughout the park, enabling self-regulated water absorption without overflow, reducing local flooding probability and achieving sponge city functionality.
(2) Ecological Restoration
Previously a police corps camp with extensive concrete surfaces and buildings, the site was transformed by removing unnecessary concrete structures for recycling, increasing overall green coverage and permeability. The project achieved zero waste export, with all demolition materials recycled on-site, reducing environmental impact while preserving local characteristics and integrating historical traces into the park landscape. Construction was conducted in phases to avoid large-scale excavation, allowing wildlife migration space. Ecological surveys conducted before, during, and after construction showed an increase from 76 species across 39 families pre-construction to 96 species across 42 families during construction, including the continued presence of the protected Chinese Yellow Oriole, demonstrating the park’s importance for biodiversity and local ecological restoration.
(3) Largest Park Area
Located near MRT G04 exit, the 16.6-hectare park is a rare metropolitan green space in Bade District’s center and Taoyuan City’s largest park, often called Taoyuan’s Daan Forest Park. Unlike its Taipei counterpart, the park features existing mature trees like pines and Chinese Toon rather than new plantings, using reverse development methods that preserve existing natural ecology while developing artificial facilities around it.
(4) Natural and Safe Environment
The park creates a natural atmosphere using 4000K low color temperature lighting to minimize light pollution while maintaining visibility. To address security concerns in the large area, the Department of Public Works installed 273 high-resolution surveillance cameras capable of facial recognition in low light conditions.
(5) Alleviating Parking Demands
To accommodate visitors, the park features two parking areas with 90 car spaces and 5 tour bus spaces. The Department of Transportation plans to add an underground parking facility with approximately 80 additional car spaces to further address local parking needs.
(6) Comprehensive Facilities
The park houses four community centers, social welfare buildings, a food bank, toy library, cultural exhibition hall, and parking facilities, enriching the green landscape with various social, educational, and entertainment venues.