Linkou Administration Building and Linkou Township Council Building
Linkou District (Chinese: 林口區; pinyin: Línkǒu Qū; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Nâ-kháu khu) is a district in the northwestern part of New Taipei City in northern Taiwan. The name "Linkou" translates to "forest mouth"; in fact, for much of its history, Linkou remained a relatively rural and undeveloped district. This has recently begun to change: Since the latter half of the 2010s, Linkou has been undergoing a period of rapid population growth and land development relative to other nearby districts.[1]
Geography
As of February 2023, Linkou District had a population of 128,929,[2] an increase of over 41% compared to the population in 2011[3] – giving it one of the fastest population growth rates in New Taipei City.[4] Linkou has a land area of 54.15 km2, including many forested areas and canyons.
Administrative divisions
The district administers 17 urban villages (all seventeen of which were rural villages (村) before changes made on 25 December 2010):[5][6]
Since 1968, the government has planned to establish a new town in Linkou to relieve the overcrowded Taipei City. In 1975, it was released and implemented with the Linkou Interchange of National Freeway 1 as the center, including the planning of both industrial and residential areas. To the north of Linkou Interchange is Linkou District, New Taipei City, and to the south is Guishan District, Taoyuan City. The new town spans the two cities but was still named Linkou.[citation needed] However, some facilities and businesses in the planned new town that use "Linkou" in their name, such as Linkou Chang Gung Memorial Hospital and Fullon Hotel Linkou, are actually located in Guishan District rather than Linkou District.
At the early stages, development of the new town was slow due to various reasons, and the original estimated scale of 250,000 people was also reduced to 80,000. It was pointed out that the reason for the failure was that the industry was not properly introduced, the transportation was inconvenient, and it was quite far away from the Taipei metropolitan area. People were not willing to relocate due to the difficulty in finding employment.[8]
Linkou District has two universities, several public schools, and as of 2021 has three international schools. Since the founding of the first international school in the district, Asia American International Academy (AAIA) in 2014, and subsequent openings of Kang Chiao International School Linkou Campus in 2018 and Morrison Academy Taipei in 2020, Linkou District has seen increased growth in its English-speaking foreign population.
Mitsui Outlet Park Linkou: The largest shopping mall in the Linkou area. It offers recreational international brand stores, restaurants, an arcade, and a movie theater.[14] A major expansion to Mitsui Outlet Park, "Phase II," is planned to begin construction in 2021 and open for business in 2024 under the name of Linkou International Media Park.[15][16]
Shine Square: Another shopping mall near Mitsui Outlet Park with a movie theater, restaurants, stores, and a large arcade.[17]
Carrefour: It offers grocery, food, daily needs, and home appliance shopping.
Recreation
Linkou has numerous public parks, public swimming pools, hiking trails, bicycle paths, golf driving ranges, and the new Linkou Civil Sports Center (opened in 2019).
Linkou is served by numerous public bus lines that connect to destinations in Taoyuan City, New Taipei City, and Taipei City. There are also commercial bus lines[18][19] that provide service to cities across Taiwan.
Road
Linkou is served by the National Highway No. 1, as well as No. 15 and No. 61. County routes 105, 106 and 108 also run through the district.
^沿革. LINKOU 林口區公所 Linkou District Office New Taipei City (in Chinese (Taiwan)). Retrieved 9 July 2019. 77年（西元1988年）8月1日，林口鄉的行政區域再度有所調整，分別有東勢村自南勢村分出、中湖村從菁湖村分出，使林口鄉所轄村落成為東林、菁湖、湖南、頂福、下福、嘉寶、瑞平、林口、西林、湖北、南勢、太平、東勢、中湖等14村；於91年（西元2002年）2月1日，分別有仁愛村、麗林村自南勢村分出，麗園村由東勢村分出，共有17村。99年（西元2010年）12月25日改制為新北市林口區，村改為里，仍轄17個里。
