Course Outline
 

1.   Title: The 163^rd Regular Session on Infrastructure Development and Planning

 

2. Organizer: International Center for Land Policy Studies and Training

 

3. Duration: 29 days, scheduled for September 5 through October 3, 2025 (excluding arrival and departure)

 

4. Target Audience: 28 international participants of medium and high level government officials or experts in the fields of urban and rural planning, infrastructure planning

 

5. Objectives:
   1. Providing the participants with understanding of the most recent lessons learned in achieving goals for effective infrastructure development and planning.
   2. Giving the participants a deeper knowledge of infrastructure development, planning, investment and maintenance, institutions and governance; urbanization and rural public infrastructure, informal settlement upgrading, planning of transportation, housing issues and public utilities;
   3. Introducing the participants to the techniques of economically and institutionally analyzing infrastructure planning;
   4. Arming the participants with skills and perspectives in planning of transportation, housing and public utilities;
   5. Assisting participants with exploring models, policy development and policy  implementation regarding:
      1. Land Policy, Urban Development, and Transportation Investment
      2. Building Resilient and Equitable Communities in the Face of Increasing Uncertainty
      3. Building Sustainable Cities
      4. Infrastructure Development and Planning in Taiwan and Field Visit
      5. Net Zero and Sustainable Development

 

6. Course Components
   1. General Structure:
      1. Land Policy, Urban Development, and Transportation Investment (Week 1): Overview of Land Markets, Infrastructure Economics, and Urban Development, Challenges in Assessing the Impact of Climate Change Risks on Taiwan, Land Use Planning, Transit Oriented Development, and Land Value Capture, Planning and Development of Intelligent Transportation System in Taiwan
      2. Building Resilient and Equitable Communities in the Face of Increasing Uncertainty (Week 2): Earth’s Climate System and the Impact of Human Action on the Climate System, Scenario Planning for the Future of Climate Change, Reflection on experience applying scenario planning to diagnose problems, design policy strategies, and decision making in the face of increased uncertainty, Local Economic Development
      3. Building Sustainable Cities (Week 3): Overview of Public Finance, Infrastructure Investments, and Affordable housing, Public-Private-Partnership Models for Infrastructure Projects, Financing Infrastructure Projects Through Capital Markets, Making a City Work in the Simulation and in the Real World
      4. Field Trip (Week 4): Visit public and private sectors for better understanding the infrastructure development and Planning in Taiwan.
   2. Instructors: Instructors include one course coordinator, international lecturers from around the world and local lecturers from Taiwan.

 

3. Presentation
   1. In addition to class lecturing and field trips, the program at the International Center of Land Policy Studies and Training (ICLPST) encourages interaction among participants.  Individuals are expected to not only learn the theory from the lectures of the instructors, but also learn through debate about real-world problems from case presentation and active discussion with fellow participants and other professionals. Therefore, each participant will be required to make a 30-minute presentation (adjusted in accordance with the actual number of participants) to the group regarding the major problems facing infrastructure development and planning in their countries.
   2. The presentation shall include the following components:
      1. Country Background: The first part of your presentation should include general information about your country’s infrastructure development and planning issues.  You should consider the following points:
         1. Geographic Background: It is helpful to prepare a map of your country.
         2. Infrastructure and Planning System: Information of the political system would facilitate understanding of infrastructure policy making in your country.
         3. Your Job or Position: Try to identify the functional role of your affiliated institution as far as infrastructure administration is concerned.
         4. Issues: To the best of your knowledge, identify the pressing issues of infrastructure and Planning system, institutions, urban and rural development, public infrastructure development likes transportation, housing and utilities in your country.
         5. Future Challenges: It would be useful to highlight the foreseen major infrastructure development and planning issues of the primary concern in your country.
      2. Problems and Solutions: In addition to background information, the presentation should cover at least one major contemporary infrastructure development and planning problem in your countries. Examples of effective solutions and difficult experiences should be provided to share with all participants. To take advantages of participants’ working experience, they are free to choose a topic at their convenience and should be prepared to explain the nature of the above said problem.
   3. Preparation: It is expected that participants will have prepared materials for their presentations prior to their arrival at ICLPST. Besides, multi-media such as video player, computer and projector will be available for the presentation. During the training course, the participants will be divided into four panels in accordance with the three themes covered in the first, the second, and the third weeks. Each panel shall be composed of eight to nine participants according to the participants’ expertise and choice of time. The three themes are as follows:

A.   Land Policy and Urban Development in Participating Countries
B.    Public Finance and Investment
C.    Transportation Investment
 

4. Field Trips: The field trips and cultural visits are arranged in line with the specific topics dealt with in the course; they typically take the participants to infrastructure planning agencies in the central and local governments, land offices, infrastructure companies, etc.; within the trips and visits, the participants are given a chance to take in the beautiful views in some internationally renowned scenic spots and cultural sites, which are hoped to help the participants see and feel for themselves Taiwan’s development in its society and economy as well as its friendly people and good tradition.

 

5. NOTE WELL:
   1. The course emphasizes experience sharing and direct participation; lectures and participants’ presentation are all conducted in English, while field trips and cultural visits are guided by the Center’s staff members, who act as interpreters whenever necessary to enable the participants to better communicate and understand the hosts during the visits.
   2. In each of the five objectives identified above, instructors would be expected to provide (a) appropriate theory that informs the subject, (b) a discussion of cases illustrating the implementation success/failures of the subject, and (c) prescription for appropriate policy action in developing and transition economy countries. Participants are encouraged to take part in class discussions so that the participating countries’ experiences can be shared. The course makes extensive use of technical seminars to enhance the sharing and common understanding of imparted knowledge.

To validate the application process, applicants recommended by their office has to be channeled through the Republic of China (Taiwan) Embassies/Missions Abroad (https://en.mofa.gov.tw/). The latter shall transmit the application to the International Center for Land Policy Studies and Training (ICLPST) for consideration.