在臺灣,「砂石(骨材)」作為現代營造產業最基本卻不可或缺的原料,就是「建設」的代名詞。一旦沒有砂石來源,便意味著火車頭工業的營造產業衰退、整體經濟發展的停擺。是以,砂石資源的開發供應問題是政府和產業界關注的重要焦點。然而長期以來,在不斷進行工程建設的結果下,臺灣砂石資源的需求量,始終遠大於政府部門所核准的可供應量。反映在砂石生產過程中,造成許多業者轉以非正式的手法來取得砂石資源(例如:違法設廠與開採、官商勾結以保護利益與規避查緝、利用黑道介入與暴力手段爭取資源獨佔等)。幾乎可以說,沒有任何一個行業像砂石業一般,如此不可或缺,卻又充滿層層黑幕。而放任砂石無度開採的結果是造成河川枯竭、國土破壞,不但嚴重危害生態環境、也直接影響民眾健康。 本文將臺灣砂石產業情境,放置回原來的社會歷史脈絡中加以檢視,並假設:砂石資源開發(/耗竭)所引起的社會與環境衝突,實是反映「國家」、「砂石業者」與「地方社會」三個主要的社會作用者,對於砂石材料商品化過程(從單純的自然物質,轉變為當代重要資源與商品),在「空間—政治—經濟—文化」場域中的社會過程和論述角力。因此,本文一方面試圖針對臺灣砂石產業的發展過程,進行回顧與分析;另一方面,將扣連上前述三作用者在其中扮演的角色,探索之中的權力關係和政治過程,如何成為都市與區域過程(urban-regional process)的中介,支配了臺灣都市與區域地區所展現出來的空間實踐(spatial practice)結果。
In Taiwan, “gravels”, as an essential material of modern construction, is no doubt a byword of “development”, and thus, in lack of gravels is regarded as the decline of construction industry, which would bring about the terrible effect of economic recession. Consequently, the production of natural gravels is always a crucial issue for both public and private sectors. However, owing to the result of unceasing construction projects in Taiwan, the market demand of natural gravels is always far greater than the “formal supply” (which means the exploiting of natural gravels is permitted by the government). The invalid resource management mechanism has given rise to seriously environmental and social problems. Many gravel manufacturers tend to manipulate informal ways to obtain natural gravels, for example, exploiting gravels and setting up factory without permissions, bribing the officials to evade from laws and regulations, and colluding with the gangsters and bringing violence to monopolize the resources. Accordingly, it is convinced that the aggregate industry is nearly the most corrupt industry in Taiwan. This paper first looks over Taiwan’s aggregate industry in its original socio-history context, and assumes all the environmental and social conflicts resulted from the production/consumption of gravels are in fact reflecting a dynamic struggle of discourse on the commercialization of the natural gravels among three main social actors of the State, the Gravel Manufacturers, and the Local Society. Therefore, this paper on one hand aims to review the development of Taiwan’s gravel industry and the mode of production of gravels in Taiwan; on the other hand attempts to illustrate how the three main actors link to and become as mediators to the urban-regional process of Taiwan, and how they result in the different spatial forms of the urban and regional area of Taiwan.