Taipei City Government

A city delegation led by Deputy Mayor Lin Chin-rong and Department of Urban Development Commissioner Lin Jou-min arrived in Singapore on January 18. The objective of the delegation is to study approaches on public housing, urban renewal, and social welfare adopted by the city-state.

Upon arrival, the city officials visited Surbana Jurong Private Limited, an established developer which has invested in building 26 townships comprising over 1 million homes in Singapore. Mao Whey Ying, Executive Vice President of Jurong International, welcomed the members of the delegation.

In a meeting with the group’s representatives, Lin noted that both Taiwan and Singapore share the same problems of high population density, limited land, aging society, as well as medical and social welfare challenges. Regarding Singapore’s “Home Ownership Scheme” as a possible solution, Lin hopes to draw from the city-state’s rich experience in implementing public housing policies through this visit.

Building on the results obtained through collaboration with Seoul on public housing, Lin added that Taipei will invite Singapore to participate in the initiative to create the “Asian Housing Alliance”—an integrated platform for industry exchange across Asian cities.

The deputy mayor also invited Surbana Jurong to attend the Smart City Summit in Taipei slated for March. The international forum will see leaders from around the world to engage in discussions on promoting diverse industry exchange among cities.