Financing Smart-Eco Projects in Taipei: Public-Private Collaborative Governance, Institutional Reconfiguration, and Resource Reallocation
Topics: Urban Geography
, Economic Geography
, Asia
Keywords: Taipei, Smart City, Smart-Eco urban projects, fianacing
Session Type: Virtual Paper Abstract
Day: Tuesday
Session Start / End Time: 3/1/2022 02:00 PM (Eastern Time (US & Canada)) - 3/1/2022 03:20 PM (Eastern Time (US & Canada))
Room: Virtual 60
Authors:
I-Chun Catherine Chang, Macalester College
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Abstract
Promising lasting economic and environmental progress, urban sustainability projects are embraced by cities across the globe. Over the last decade, these projects have increasingly become driven by a global industry that prioritizes proprietary information technology solutions. The costs associated with the for-profit industry, however, present new challenges to cities, especially to those with stagnant economic growth and limited fiscal flexibility. Given the growing interests of the industry in the previously overlooked Asian markets, this paper studies how smart-eco city initiatives in Taipei, Taiwan are financed and financialized to examine the operation of the emerging urban sustainability industry and their relations with urban planning regimes. The findings suggest that the current non-affiliated Taipei City Mayor Ko and his administration exploited the supposed technological superiority and political neutrality of its smart-eco cities to set a new growth agenda, form new development coalitions, and incorporate rising populist momentum into policy-making. In light of limited municipal resources, the Ko administration adopted the Amsterdam Smart City public-private collaborative governance framework to entice private investments and reduce public spending on the new projects. The Taipei City government has also undergone a series of institutional reforms to integrate otherwise appropriated itemized assets to invest in its new smart-eco projects. Meanwhile, the city presents its construction of smart affordable housing and smart-eco communities as evidence of financial self-sufficiency. By detailing these financial arrangements, this paper provides insights into how urban planning regimes reconfigure government institutions and reallocate resource distribution to materialize smart-eco projects.
Financing Smart-Eco Projects in Taipei: Public-Private Collaborative Governance, Institutional Reconfiguration, and Resource Reallocation
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Virtual Paper Abstract
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