Going Green – Experiencing the Ecomobile Lifestyle

Editor’s Note
Transforming an old town quarter into an ecomobile
“
neighborhood for one month! The City of Kaohsiung
decided to take up the challenge and work with the community
of Hamasen on a month-long demonstration of
an ecomobile lifestyle—framed as EcoMobility World
Festival 2017.
As initiator of the ecomobility festivals I was pleased
to advise the city on concept and strategy for the preparation
and implementation of the ecomobility month. As
Creative Director of the ecomobility festivals series I had
the privilege of experiencing all elements of the monthlong
event through participatory observation. As the
editor of this publication I had the pleasure to relive the
festival when reviewing reports, interviews, articles and
thousands of photos…
The festival team of Kaohsiung’s Transportation
Bureau led by Director-General Ching-Fu Jeff Chen has
earned my particular respect for having taken up and
tackled a multitude of ideas, requirements, expectations,
and wishes, and delivered an impressive, month-long
demonstration of a neighborhood trying an ecomobile
lifestyle.
I have enjoyed working with Chinghui Liao of the
ICLEI Kaohsiung Capacity Center as co-editor and
senior advisor to this book project, link to the city team,
and door opener to local residents; urban planner, author
and columnist Bingyu Chiu as co-author; renowned international
photographer Henry Westheim and Taiwanese
photographer Frank Chen as photographers; Sting Yang
as documentary film maker; Beatrice Ch’ng as key link to
ICLEI’s ecomobility program team; Tobias Kuttler and
Theresa Zimmermann who had already been part of the
documentary teams of the ecomobility festivals in Suwon
and Johannesburg as interviewers and writers; Raimund
Tauss who designed the magazine; and the team of
JOVIS publishers who finally made a publication out
of all that we prepared. Thank you to all of you!
”
Konrad Otto-Zimmermann, Editor
“
Authors’ Note
The third EcoMobility World Festival in Kaohsiung,
the leading port city on Taiwan, in October 2017
was not just a repetition of previous such events. The
unique position of the historical quarter Hamasen
and the professional knowledge, local experience and
fantastic creativity of the festival team of the Kaohsiung
Transportation Bureau gave the event the special
Kaohsiung touch that tens of thousands of visitors
so much enjoyed, while the ecomobility team of the
international network of green cities, ICLEI – Local
Governments for Sustainability, saw to the international
flavor and outreach.
The month-long happening was so lively, colorful,
multifaceted and inspiring that we felt only a
magazine-style report would do justice to both, the
success of the festival and our task of reporting it.
This magazine shares with you, the esteemed
reader, the amazing features of the Kaohsiung ecomobility
month, lets the key actors speak, and puts
seven citizens into the spotlight as they experience
the ecomobile lifestyle.
Enjoy perusing this magazine and if you feel
like instigating an ecomobility month in your own
town, just go ahead!
”
Bingyu Chiu and Konrad Otto-Zimmermann,
Authors