This paper provided a case study of the impacts of an economic development project on two townships in central Taiwan. To fulfill President Chen's campaign promise in increasing Taiwan's innovation competitiveness and balancing regional development in a global economy, the central government approved and began constructing Central Taiwan Science Park expediently in 2002. Pressured to cooperate, local residents have endured the pains brought by this development such as the transformation in rural landscape, traffic jams, pollutions, and relocations. So far, residents have yet to realize and materialize the promises of such a development project. It is doubtful that such a "top down" policy would be ideal for the sustainable development of local areas. Moreover, through in-depth interviews, we documented how Taiwan's pursue in the global economic race has brought unequal impacts on some of its rural communities