Secretariat, Taipei City Government

On July 3, Taipei City Deputy Mayor Wen-Te Chang represented Mayor Wan-An Chiang at the World Cities Summit (WCS), engaging with representatives from approximately 70 international cities. During the Mayors Forum, he delivered a keynote speech titled “Digital Innovation: Taipei’s Smart Path to Municipal Excellence,” promoting Taipei’s achievements in the field of smart governance.

This year’s WCS was themed “Livable & Sustainable Cities: Local Solutions, Global Impact” and featured five subforums for mayors. Deputy Mayor Chang spoke during the session on “Providing Reliable and Efficient Municipal Services,” sharing how Taipei uses digital technology to construct intergenerational smart service systems. He highlighted three policies—“Fresh Milk Weekly,” “TaipeiPASS (MetroPass),” and the “Carbon Reduction Savings Account”—to demonstrate Taipei’s practical efforts in advancing smart services and realizing the vision of a livable, sustainable city. His presentation was well received by both the organizer and participants, with Singapore’s representatives praising Taipei’s achievements in smart city development.

During the summit, Deputy Mayor Chang also paid a visit to Hong Tat Chee, Singapore’s Minister for National Development and the event’s host, to personally express Taipei’s heartfelt appreciation for Singapore’s longstanding invitations and support.

At the forum, Deputy Mayor Chang engaged in dialogues and exchanges with Kuala Lumpur Mayor and former Executive Director Maimunah Mohd Sharif of the UN-Habitat as well as several city leaders and representatives from Taipei’s partner cities, such as Mayor Michael Ludwig of Vienna, Mayor Low Yen Ling of Singapore’s South West District, Deputy Mayor Tom Copley of London, Mayor Se-hoon Oh of Seoul, and Mayor Soichiro Takashima of Fukuoka. He invited them to visit Taipei to strengthen the city’s global presence through international city-to-city engagement.

Additionally, the host city of Vienna arranged visits for participating delegates to several iconic social housing and urban renewal sites, including the renowned Seestadt Aspern. After the visit, Deputy Mayor Chang was interviewed by Austrian media and stated that he was deeply inspired by Vienna’s approach of treating housing as a fundamental social right. He expressed his intention to bring Vienna’s integrated housing and urban renewal policies to Taipei as valuable references to enhance Taipei’s housing policy planning and execution to create a more livable, equitable, and sustainable urban environment.

The 10th WCS was held in Vienna, Austria, from July 2 to 4, 2025. Vienna is also the recipient of the 2020 Lee Kuan Yew World City Prize. Launched by Singapore in 2008, the WCS is a platform for city leaders and experts worldwide to exchange insights. Its core programs include the Lee Kuan Yew World City Prize and the WCS Mayors Forum, with each summit hosted alternately in Singapore or a winning international city. Taipei has participated in WCS events for several years—most recently in 2023, when Mayor Chiang led a delegation to Seoul and delivered a keynote speech at the summit.