Business Today performed the 2020 sustainable city survey for the six special municipalities in Taiwan by examining the long-term urban development blueprint of each city. The comprehensive survey score identified New Taipei City as the top winner. Today (October 14), New Taipei City Mayor Hou Yu-Ih attended the award ceremony and expressed his gratitude for the effort of Business Today in overseeing the survey. In the future, he will continue to lead his team in creating a city that makes citizens proud and invokes citizens’ belongingness.
 

Mayor Hou stated that in the past few years, New Taipei City has implemented various sustainable development indicators in its urban development operation. For example, the city has hosted the New Taipei City Women’s Power event for two consecutive years to honor multiple local women with outstanding achievements. This year, the Place of Origin Dining Table event was hosted for the first time, in which unique local ingredients were used by chefs to make creative dishes. These events were inspired by the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations. In addition, the government has strived to transform New Taipei City into a coal-free city, enabling it to become the first city in Taiwan to join the Powering Past Coal Alliance.
 

Business Today collaborated with the third-party polling organization TrendSight to perform a comprehensive survey based on the 17 SDGs and three scoring dimensions, namely indicator scoring, public opinion polling, and policy activeness and transparency. The final survey result gave rise to the most outstanding sustainable city award, with New Taipei City, Taoyuan City, and Taipei City winning the first, second, and third places, respectively.
 

In addition to the comprehensive survey, Business Today also evaluated the six special municipalities in the social, environmental, and economic aspects, and New Taipei City ranked first in the social and environmental aspects. Public opinion polls indicated that the highest proportion of citizens in New Taipei City were aware of the positive effects brought about by the policies implemented by the city government, and more than 30% of citizens believed that the overall environmental sustainability performance of the city has improved. In addition, more than 40% of citizens recognized the effort of the city government in carbon reduction and energy conservation.
 

New Taipei City actively promotes initiatives in replacing industrial coal-fired boilers with more environmental alternatives and asphalt-based fuels with natural gas. The government guides companies in complying with the coal reduction plan of the city and helping New Taipei City become the first city in Taiwan to join the Powering Past Coal Alliance. In addition, the number and coverage of long-term care institutions in New Taipei City continue to increase rapidly. Of the six municipalities, the city also has the most success in the establishment of public kindergartens.

Competent Authority: Secretariat