Consensus Politics in the Urban Political Arena: Implications for Urban Development in the Greater Taipei Metropolitan Region

Chantalle Elisabeth Rietdijk

《地理研究》 76期 (2022/11) Pp. 97-120

https://doi.org/10.6234/JGR.202211_(76).0004

摘要

This study investigates the urban development views and priorities of city councillors in New Taipei City and Taipei City by analysing election statements of candidates participating in the local elections of 2018, and conducting in-depth interviews with elected city councillors. The urban development discourse presents as a business-as-usual approach based in a consensus on good urban development, rather than transformative action. The cause for this consensus is partly explained by the functioning of the urban political arena, where silencing and exclusion of divergent ideas are present, and partly by the presence of national divides and issues in the local arena. Taiwan, as a young democracy, faces extra challenges in ensuring that transformative discourses enter the political debate. The implications of a consensus on urban development rooted in neoliberalism are presented and compared along theory by Swyngedouw (2007) on post-political cities in Western countries. Lastly, politicisation of the urban political arena is suggested as beneficial for development towards a more just and sustainable city, as well as benefiting democratisation on the local scale.

關鍵字

democratisation ； pluralism ； neoliberalism ； urban governance ； right to the city

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