I live in the 8th floor of a high-rise somewhere in Neihu District.  From the front balcony of my apartment, I can see dense, ever-green trees along the trail to Bisan Temple(碧山巖), and they are really a sight for sore eyes.  But beside the trees are a broad span of four-storied apartments nestled at the foot of the hill.  Those apartments must have been there for forty years, being without any refurbishment nor facelift on the exteriors.  Even worse, almost on all the tops of the apartments, there are additional structures constructed without licences, making the scene fraught with ugly plantation and seemingly messy, insecure add-on constructions.  (I wonder how those "construction" could withstand typhoon in summertime, or earthquakes that take place anytime.  There are also latent danger: narrow and winding lanes will keep fire-engines at bay, just in case of fire.)

I dont mean to despise the residents in the apartments.  Obviously, it is not they to blame.  Lack of hollistic city plans, outdated construction codes when the apartments were built, and shortage of money, as well as the protection of private properties, are all deterents that make Taipei City hard to seek a feasible gentrification.  No wonder some people would lament that now Taipei can hardly match Mainlands cities of third-tier, or even those newly-developed cities of lower tier, at least hardware-wise.  Why?  Because Chinas Mainland has newcomer advantage, money, power to execute, and nationalization of all lands.          

P.S. In English, there is an idiom for such a scene: a blot on the landscape, meaning an object, especially an ugly building, that spoils the beauty of a place.  You know, in American residential areas, any house with unattended lawn (not mow in time), broken windows that facing street, and so on, may be regarded as "a blot on the landscape" and the residents most likely will get a ticket from city hall.