For years, extremely high housing price (second in the world, ranked by the ratio of housing price to income) and market-driven urban renewal practices have been dancing around the perimeter of urban governance in Taipei.
The municipal policy that aiming at the solutions such as the provision of a sufficient number of social housing units, public-initiated urban regeneration and a bolder public engagement scheme have been struggling conducted.
Our PhD candidate: Cinco Hsinko Yu, who was a planner as well as a community architect based in Taipei, is now currently conducting his research on evaluating public participation of urban regeneration projects in the city.
When he was doing his fieldwork in Taipei, he was invited by the municipality and other municipal urban regeneration organisations, to share experiences and cases that were happening in Amsterdam. The instances of Bijlmemeer, Tugelaweg and Nieuwmarkt, and more importantly, the pivotal structure of housing associations, were covered. The Dutch urban policies and housing practices were essential for Taiwanese policymakers and planners to reflect on their own struggles and to formulate further discussions.
Last but not least, Cinco was also invited to the city radio station to share his ideas. What an excellent opportunity to create an impulse of social learning and engagement!
