基隆電力景觀：基礎設施的想像及其生產動態

Keelung Electricityscape:The Imaginaries and the Production Dynamics of Infrastructure

每種景觀都意味著將之生產出來的技術。過往研究在考察景觀時，往往更強調看似「自然」的部分，本文認為，電基礎設施是晚近人類大規模的造景實踐，是人們對生活樣貌的理解或手段，也因此有未來應該如何的各種想像。透過「景觀－技術」的觀點切入，可以分析電力景觀（electricityscape）何以是窺探當代生活的必要視角，並勾勒其權力輪廓。
具體而言，筆者透過「空間想像」（spatial imaginaries）以及「社會技術想像」（sociotechnical imaginaries）這兩類與電力景觀緊密相連的概念，拉出兩個討論軸線：1.主導性空間想像促進社會物質與生產關係重組，並隱含特定電氣美學2.主導性社會技術想像的技術方案，激發抵抗性的空間想像。藉此解析想像的內涵、隱含的美學以及想像鬥爭，以便開展「想像基礎設施化的政治」。為批判的社會科學計畫，提出景觀的視角。
本文透過基隆都市轉型，從纜線清整計畫、電纜地下化、路燈照明到奇觀裝置，發現都市治理菁英影射的隱匿、可見、創造奇觀美學，從而探討電力景觀的生產動態及慣性。不過，這些美學背後反映了治理菁英對都市景觀「自覺落後」的空間想像，且這樣的想像與常民生活之間仍有距離，還未成為相對穩固、納入地方想像的電力景觀。在能源轉型面向，本文透過協和發電廠爭議，凸顯出主導性社會技術想像激發反抗性空間想像的方式，過程甚至迸發出許多不同層次的想法。不過，在環評這一核心的想像鬥爭場域中，卻受到以協和發電廠周圍地方頭人為代表的地區型想像牽制。因此，反對者們透過組織基隆史上首場公民投票，以召喚基隆「保護海岸的政治主體」，卻因此落入相對扁平的「是否為地方自治事項？」的論述鬥爭。
筆者主張，電力景觀是由基礎設施與生活方式持續生產的關係叢結；是從政治、經濟和美學決策中形成的社會生產；更是電力基礎設施與細微的都市日常相連的文化建構，也因此有其生產慣性與動態。想像是電力景觀的關鍵政治場域，基隆電力景觀的轉變，涉及都市轉型與能源轉型的願景和爭議，更以具有不同審美評價及意識形態效果的想像，體現出電力景觀的想像政治。

Each landscape implies a technological process in its production. Previous studies on landscapes often emphasized the seemingly ’’natural’’ aspects. However, this paper argues that electrical infrastructure constitutes a recent large-scale landscaping practice, serving as a means for individuals to comprehend or manipulate the aspects of life, thus giving rise to various future imaginations. Approaching through the lens of ’’landscapetechnology,’’ the analysis delves into why the electricityscape is a crucial perspective for understanding contemporary life and outlines its power contours.
Specifically, the author utilizes the concepts of ’’spatial imaginaries’’ and ’’sociotechnical imaginaries,’’ closely linked to the electricityscape, to establish two discussion axes: 1. Dominant spatial imaginaries promote the reconfiguration of social material and production relations, implicitly carrying a specific electrical aesthetic. 2. Dominant sociotechnical imaginaries propose technical solutions that stimulate resistant spatial imaginaries. This dissects the connotations, implicit aesthetics, and struggles within imagination, facilitating the exploration of ’’politics of imagined infrastructure’’ within a critical social science framework, offering a landscape perspective.
This paper, through the urban transformation of Keelung, investigates the production dynamics and inertia of the electricityscape, examining projects ranging from cable restructuring plans, undergrounding of power cables, and streetlighting to spectacle installations. It uncovers the hidden, visible, and aesthetically spectacular facets projected by urban governance elites. However, the aesthetics underlying these initiatives reflect the spatial imaginings of governance elites who perceive the urban landscape as ’’consciously lagging behind.’’ Such imaginings still maintain a distance from the everyday lives of the common people and have not yet evolved into a relatively stable electricityscape that incorporates place imaginations. In the context of energy transition, this study, using the controversy surrounding the Hsieh-ho Power Plant, highlights how dominant sociotechnical imaginaries stimulate resistant spatial imaginaries, even giving rise to various layers of thoughts. However, within the core realm of environmental impact assessment, this imaginative struggle is constrained by regional imaginations, represented by local leaders around the Hsieh-ho Power Plant. Consequently, opponents, by organizing Keelung’s first-ever citizen referendum, seek to evoke the ’’political subjectivity of protecting the coast in Keelung.’’ Yet, this effort falls into a relatively flattened discourse struggle framed by the question, ’’Is it a matter of local autonomy?’’
The author contends that the electricityscape is intricately woven through the continuous interrelation between infrastructure and lifestyle. It emerges as a social construct shaped by political, economic, and aesthetic decisions, serving as a cultural framework linking electricity infrastructure with the subtle fabric of urban daily life. Consequently, it exhibits inherent production inertia and dynamics. Imagination serves as the pivotal political domain of the electricityscape, and the transformation of Keelung’s electricityscape involves visions and controversies surrounding urban and energy transitions. This transformation is further exemplified through diverse aesthetic evaluations and ideological effects, illustrating the imaginative politics embedded within the electricityscape.