Is Taipei an Innovative City? An Institutionalist Analysis

This paper explores whether Taipei is an innovative city by critically examining Taipei’s industrial and economic performance, developmental visions and spatial planning, as well as institutional settings and political contexts. With the aid of institutionalist perspective, the author argues that Taipei’s innovative efforts are mostly policy innovation, rather than institutional innovation. The author also describes the institutional dynamics that have caused the lack of Taipei’s institutional innovation. The case study of Taipei could be helpful in conducting comparative studies on urban innovation.