Mayor Chen's Insightful Visit to Spain／打造高雄環狀輕軌 取經西班牙
Mayor Chen's Insightful Visit to Spain
◎English translation: Lin Fu-ju ◎Photos by Hsieh Kuan-yi
In 2015, Kaohsiung will open Taiwan's first circular light rail system in order to improve its transportation infrastructure and become one of Asia's prominent harbor cities. This project will be carried out with a partnership with the Spanish public company CAF (Construcciones Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles), The Spanish have a great deal of experience in light rail development and Kaohsiung City Government believes the city will truly benefit from the international partnership.
In mid-April Mayor Chen Chu headed up a delegation to Spain in order to gain more knowledge about their experiences in light rail and urban development. The delegation visited the Spanish cities of Bessain, Bilbao, Zaragoza and Seville in order to see first-hand how the cities had undergone similar development to Kaohsiung. The delegation kicked off their trip with the contractors in Bessain and visited their plant in Zaragoza. Here they learned about light rail internal operations, vehicle and body manufacturing, local design, assembly and testing. This knowledge will be imperative for the development of Kaohsiung's Light Rail System. The delegation believes the contractors will deliver quality work in a timely manner. The next stop was the city of Bilbao which has a similar geographical environment to Kaohsiung. 
Both cities were once big industrial, trading ports. Like Kaohsiung, through urban development, Bilbao has successfully transformed itself from industrial city into an ecological and cultural city. Like Kaohsiung, they had refurbished their rivers and developed their tourism with projects like the opening of the Guggenheim Museum. Mayor Chen Chu gained perspective on how another city had accomplished similar goals to Kaohsiung.
The next stop was the city of Seville, which is Spain's southern center for art, culture and finance. Like Kaohsiung, Seville also embraces year round sunshine and has made great strides in developing its solar energy sector. In Seville, the delegation visited Europe's largest solar plant, Abengoa Solucar. This inspired the Mayor to head up more projects that will make Kaohsiung City a greener city.
Mayor Chen Chu feels Kaohsiung has also been successful in transitioning from a city of heavy industry into a green mega city. She noted Kaohsiung's success in hosting the 2009 World Games and its anticipation of the impending 2013 Asia Pacific Cities Summit. Kaohsiung will further its international relationships by receiving delegations from neighboring countries such as Japan, Singapore and Malaysia. The city has a lot to look forward to as it embarks on new partnerships and friendships with countries from all over the world.
打造高雄環狀輕軌 取經西班牙
◎文／陳美鳳 ◎攝影／謝冠儀
為打造高雄成為文創、休閒、觀光的亞洲新灣區，預計於2015年迎接全台第一條環狀輕軌，樹立公共運輸重要里程碑。該環狀輕軌由西班牙CAF（西班牙鐵路建設和協助股份有限公司）團隊承攬，市長陳菊親率考察團至西班牙，實地了解輕軌及都市規劃改造的經驗。
參訪團此行首要參觀CAF設於貝阿薩因的集團總部及位於薩拉戈薩的列車生產基地，實地了解內部運作及車輛製造情形，掌握高雄輕軌列車在此地進行設計、車身製造、組裝和測試的工作進度，期盼能如期、如質完工。
參訪團也前往畢爾包、塞維爾及薩拉戈薩，拜會當地市政府進行城市交流，並參觀輕軌網絡規劃與搭乘市區輕軌，實際感受輕軌的舒適便捷和體驗各城市的建設特色。
畢爾包的地理環境與高雄相似，都是工業及貿易港口。畢爾包透過都市基礎建設、河道空間開發整治、古根漢美術館興建，從工業城轉型成生態文化大城。而塞維爾位於西班牙南部，是藝術、文化與金融中心，與高雄同樣有充足日照，在致力發展太陽能源的成效卓著，參訪團於當地參訪了目前歐洲最大的商業性Abengoa Solucar光電廠，借鏡學習商業運轉的成功經驗，期盼高雄未來也能邁向宜居綠能大城。
市長陳菊表示高雄已從重工業城市成功轉型為綠色宜居大城，此次能爭取到2013年亞太城市高峰會主辦權，是繼成功舉辦2009世界運動會後，高雄再次躍上國際舞台的一大盛事，所以先後至鄰近的日本、新加坡及馬來西亞，邀請各城市的市長來台灣參加，並歡迎各國友人能到高雄觀光旅遊，感受港都城市的魅力與風情。