古蹟文萌樓與日日春運動

Wen Men Lou: Preservation of Historical Brothel and the Campaign of the Collective of Sex Workers and Supporters (COSWAS)

一棟近百年的市定古蹟―文萌樓，是台灣第一個標誌性工作與性工作者運動的古蹟。它不但見證了百年來台北地區性產業的風花歲月，1997 年爆發反廢娼運動時，更成為妓權運動基地，並於2006 年底獲指定為台北市定古蹟。然而，2001年台北市公娼制度正式走入歷史後，性產業及周邊行業背負的社會污名與房舍老舊缺乏維修等現實問題，使拆除重建式的都市更新對在地居民充滿誘因，卻也讓文萌樓成為地皮炒作的套利工具。建商將歸綏街、寧夏路將近70% 的公有地的街廓劃入都更單元，帶來暴利。同時，經營不動產容積買賣的投機客劉順發、林麗萍二人於2011 年3 月以330 萬元買下文萌樓成為房屋所有人，提告逼迫日日春遷出，因為投資客圖謀分食文萌樓參與都更的開發利益，估計就有4.1 億，擔心古蹟管理者日日春成為絆腳石。之後文萌樓成為建商的肉餅、投機客與建商討價還價的棋子。在當今主流尊重私產、保障開發利益的都更結構中，文萌樓作為古蹟的公共性被退置一旁，僅是承租戶的日日春不斷透過社會運動發聲，揭發台銀拋售公共資產，淪為都更提款機，致使建商搖身一變成為最大私人地主。面對投機客對文萌樓古蹟價值的毀壞，日日春一開始同意建商提出的「參與都更、捐作公益設施」的妥協方案，轉向要求文萌樓「劃出都更範圍、文化局徵收」，以阻斷文萌樓成為投機客賺取暴利的工具，並朝向讓文萌樓得以從林麗萍與建商所綁架的肉票脫身。現階段日日春雖取得初步成果，都審會決議將文萌樓劃出都更範圍，但是否終能維護文化公共資產，對抗都更投機暴利的私權至上的遊戲，日日春仍舊辛苦奮戰著。此案例突顯了台灣自1990 年底，在新自由主義全球化的框架下，生產部門遭遇危機後，國家棄守，不斷去管制化、私有化下，資本尋求出路所發生的現象。

Wen Meng Lou is a city-designated heritage building nearly a hundred years old. It is also the first heritage site to symbolize the sex workers and sex workers’ movement of Taiwan. It has not only witnessed the transformation of the sex industry in Taipei city over the last century, it was also the headquarters for the movement against the abolition of licensed prostitution, which emerged in 1997. As a result of COSWAS’ tireless campaigning, Wen Meng Lou became a city heritage site in 2006. After the abolition of licensed prostitution in 2001, the stigma against the sex industry and its peripheral businesses, as well as the aging of buildings like Wen Meng Lou, have made profiteering through urban regeneration that would require these buildings to be demolished and rebuilt into something else rather attractive to local residents. A construction company, in expectation of huge profits, has included nearly 70% of public land, stretching from Gui-shui Street to Ling-hsia Road in its urban regeneration plan, which includes the land where Wen Meng Lou stands on. Land speculators like Liu Shun-fa and Lin Li-ping bought Wen Meng Lou for NT$ 3,300, 000 in March, 2011 and tried to evict COSWAS so that they could sell the building for NT$ 4.1 billion. They did not want COSWAS, as the official manager of the building, to obstruct their plan. Consequently, Wen Meng Lou became a pawn between the construction company and land speculators. The historical value of Wen Meng Lou as a heritage site; as a publicly-owned building with great significance to the Taiwanese is sidelined as a result of urban regeneration, and to make way for mainstream values like the sanctity of private property and profits. COSWAS as a tenant of Wen Meng Lou has been campaigning against this, educating the public on the implications of the sale of the land by the Bank of Taiwan. The bank by doing so, has become an ‘ATM’ of urban regeneration projects; facilitating the privatization of public assets, so as to enrich construction companies and speculators. Faced with the threat that the historical value of Wen Meng Lou and the importance of its ‘public-ness’ will be lost forever, COSWAS has initially agreed to a compromised plan, to “Participate in Urban Regeneration but Retain Land and Buildings as Public through Donation”. Thus, COSWAS demands Wen Meng Lou to be excluded from urban regeneration and for the Taipei City Bureau of Culture to adopt it instead. This is to prevent Wen Meng Lou from becoming yet another tool of profiteering speculators and to free itself from the stranglehold of profiteers like Liu Shun-fa, Lin Li-ping and their accomplices. Currently, COSWAS has succeeded but it is still unclear if the heritage site can remain as a public cultural asset. Nevertheless, COSWAS is determined to fight against privatization of land for profits. This case study highlights the consequence of the demise of Taiwan’s manufacturing sector and the relentless de-regulation and liberalization of Taiwanese economy under neo-liberal globalization since the end of 1990.