We live in a period of extreme urbanization and globalization, where both the worst of social inequities and the best of civic innovations exist simultaneously. Such is the case in Taipei. This talk examines the post-colonial and late-industrial character of the city, and its evolution through creative public-private development strategies and land use policy.

David Tseng [曾成德] is Professor of Architecture and Dean of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, National Chiao Tung University (NCTU), Taiwan. Under his leadership, NCTU won the 2014 Solar Decathlon Europe in categories of Urban Design, Innovation and Energy Efficiency, and represented Taiwan in the 2016 Venice Biennial International Architecture Exhibition. Additionally, David has served as the Consultant General of the Built Environment to the Mayor for the cities of Taichung and Taipei. His commitment to design excellence helped bring about significant public projects, such as the Taichung Metropolitan Opera House (Toyo Ito), Taipei Performing Art Center (Rem Koolhaas), Taipei Popular Music Center (Reiser and Umemoto) and Taichung Gateway Park (Stan Allen).