20.06.2023

Lecture: Chen Yi-Ling, "From Globalizing Taipei to Referencing European Cities: Referencing as a Politicalizing Strategy in Taiwan’s Urban Development"

On Thursday, 22 June 2022, visiting scholar Prof. Chen Yi-Ling 陳怡伶, will give a public talk at the ERCCT speaking about the topic "From Globalizing Taipei to Referencing European Cities: Referencing as a politicalizing strategy in Taiwan’s urban development"

On Thursday, 22 June 2022, visiting scholar Prof. Chen Yi-Ling 陳怡伶 from the School of Politics, Public Affairs, and International Studies/Geography at University of Wyoming will give a public talk at the ERCCT speaking about

From Globalizing Taipei to Referencing European Cities: Referencing as a politicalizing strategy in Taiwan’s urban development

The talk is about how housing policies transfer from one country to the other and will focus on how Amsterdam’s social housing plays an important role in shaping social housing in Taiwan. In the 1990s, Globalizing Taipei was a new urban development strategy for the city that was undergoing economic restructuring and new democratic governance. The new goal transformed the logic of urban planning towards neoliberal urbanism. Housing speculation was intensified by pro-developer urban policies. In 2010, serious problems of housing affordability mobilized the social housing movement, inspired by Amsterdam, where 40% of the total housing stock is social housing. This talk deals with changing urban referencing and housing problems in Taipei City by applying theories of global cities and policy mobility. It argues that the geopolitical situation of Taiwan is a crucial factor in policy mobility in addition to the economic crisis. The desire to be global is always the underlying force for choosing a new learning model. The postcolonial debates do not apply well to Taiwan, because Taiwan has multiple colonial histories and is still in danger of losing its autonomy. 

The talk will also include the co-housing model in Tübingen and how Taiwan’s housing reformers begin to seek other housing models that can tackle the problems of an ageing society and commodification of housing production in Taiwan. 

The event will begin at 6:15 p.m. and take place at Wilhelmstraße 19, seminar room 001.