Building a Comprehensive Life Ceremony Service Network: Taichung City Invests Over NT$360 Million in Eight Years to Add Nearly 90,000 Niche and Spirit Tablet Spaces

The Taichung City Government is continuously improving life ceremony services to meet the needs of an aging society and citizens' funeral and memorial requirements by actively expanding public columbarium capacity. Bureau of Civil Affairs Director Wu Shih-wei stated that since Mayor Lu Hsiu-yen took office, the city has cumulatively invested over NT$360 million to add 78,803 ash (or remains) niches and 10,595 ancestral tablets, totaling 89,398 new memorial spaces. This allows ancestors to be enshrined nearby and provides peace of mind for mourning families, creating a more convenient, comprehensive, and human-centered life ceremony service network.

Director Wu emphasized that funeral facilities are not only spaces to house the deceased but also carry the emotional weight of family remembrance and are a crucial part of the city’s public services. With changing demographics and increasing demand for funeral services, the city continuously reviews facility usage across districts, adopting a strategy of 'district-based construction and annual expansion.' In addition to advancing the construction of three Life Memorial Halls in Taiping, Dongshi, and Beitun, the city has phased in additional niches in both new and existing columbarium towers according to development plans and local spatial conditions. Future plans aim to provide approximately 200,000 niches, adequately addressing enshrinement needs for the next 20 years.

Moreover, with evolving lifestyles, more residents live in community apartments, condominiums, and studio units, resulting in limited home altar space and a growing demand for off-site ancestral tablet enshrinement. Director Wu noted that Taichung currently has 36 public columbarium towers. In recent years, ancestral tablet spaces have been successively added in Tanzi, Daya, Shenhua, Houli, Waipu, Qingshui, and Wuri districts. This year, 742 additional ancestral tablet spaces were added at the Daya Life Art Center, inaugurated on April 23, bringing the cumulative total to 10,595 new spaces, offering citizens diverse options that balance modern living with traditional worship needs.

Taichung City Life Ceremony Management Office Director Bai E-mei stated that the city is investing another NT$11 million this year, aiming to add 3,487 ash (or remains) niches in Dongshi, Taiping, Tanzi, Qingshui, and Houli by year-end, along with launching the 742 ancestral tablet spaces at the Daya Life Art Center. The expansion projects in Dongshi, Taiping, and Tanzi have already been completed and were inaugurated on June 29. Construction in Qingshui and Houli is actively underway, continuously enhancing the city’s funeral service capacity.

Director Bai emphasized that life ceremony services are closely tied to citizens’ lives. The city will continue to assess district-specific needs, dynamically review construction plans, and progressively expand facilities to improve worship environments and service quality. The goal is to build a life ceremony service network that combines human care with sustainable development, ensuring the deceased rest in peace and the living find comfort, supporting families in honoring their loved ones with dignity.