The Hsi Liu Environmental Greening Foundation is in-charge of the community planning service center for Xinyi District and has been a witness to the district's development over the years. In 2002, the foundation established a Community Planning Service Center and started thorough research to identify Xinyi District's unique urban and community features. It organized a series of ecology workshops for residents to know more about their neighborhood.

Hsi Liu staff worked with community colleges in the Xinyi District to hold the workshops.

The idea of service centers that function as platforms to field opinions, ideas or suggestions from local citizens and community planners began in 2001 when the UDD established service centers in Taipei City's 12 districts.

One model of how the Hsi Liu foundation works together with community residents was the Elephant Mountain Image. In 2005, Hsi Liu staff and Xinyi residents worked to build the image at the foot of Elephant Mountain, a popular mountain hiking destination in Taipei. The image had to be removed when the city government sold the land on which it was built to private owners.

In 2007 the Hsi Liu Foundation initiated a green roof project that sought to install extensive green roofs on buildings. In 2008, Wushing Elementary School's Ren Ai Building was the first to have such a roof, followed by the Xinyi Administration Center, Xinyi Junior High School and Taipei School of Special Education.

"Green roofs are a world trend," said Lee Chung-yuan, Head of Hsi Liu's Landscape Section, "in the last decade there have been very few spaces for greening so most countries do it on building roofs."

"We know Xinyi District very well and have a better understanding of its potential problems and how to improve its surroundings."