Taipei Garden City Initiative (Tianyuan Chengshi)
Taipei, Taiwan · Operator: Taipei City Government (Department of Economic Development; Department of Education; Public Works)
Overview
Taipei's citywide urban-farming policy launched in 2015 under Mayor Ko Wen-je. Through four garden types-community, school, rooftop and allotment-it converts scattered vacant spaces across the city into edible green infrastructure.
Citizen participation
Citizen groups, neighborhood units (li), schools and companies adopt 'garden bases' that the city supports with materials, instructor fees and subsidies of up to TWD 200,000. Most plots are cultivated without pesticides or herbicides.
Operating model
A government-led subsidy-and-adoption model. The city opens rooftops of public buildings, vacant lots and odd-shaped land to citizens at no or low cost, while subsidising initial setup and operating training.
Impact
By 2023 the program had created over 740 edible gardens and around 210,000 sqm of green space, contributing to food self-sufficiency, lifelong learning, well-being and ecosystem health, and is widely cited as a model urban-farming policy.
Land tenure
The city licenses public land, building rooftops and vacant lots to citizen groups via an adoption scheme; much of the use is interim.
Crops
- vegetables
- herbs
- fruit
Scale
213,000 m² — Over 740 edible gardens citywide; community gardens, school gardens, rooftop gardens and allotment farms totalling roughly 210,000-213,000 sqm (as of 2023)
Sources（3）
This entry is compiled from the public sources, official sites and research below.
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