Taipei, Nov. 16 (CNA) There will be new business opportunities and political challenges in five mega cities after the Nov. 27 special municipality elections, the panelists at a forum on the subject said Tuesday.
The immediate changes in the cities of Taipei, Xinbei, Taichung, Tainan and Kaohsiung will be massive budget increases, which are expected to bring various business opportunities to foreign companies, said Joanna Lei, head of Taipei City Government's Economic Development Commission.
Lei was among three panelists at a forum titled " Taiwan's New Urban Landscape: The elections for five new mega cities and transforming business strategies." The forum was organized jointly by the European Chamber of Commerce in Taipei (ECCT) and International Community Radio Taipei (ICRT).
More business opportunities will arise because the total population of the five cities will account for more than 60 percent of Taiwan's population of 23 million, she said.
However, an important question that needs to be addressed is "what will happen to the 'leftovers' as the mega cities absorb much of the national resources, " Lei said, referring to smaller cities or counties such as Chiayi and Pintung.
Among the five mega cities, Taipei is the only one that will have no changes in terms of population or administrative borders. Taipei County will be renamed Xinbei City. The new Taichung City will be a merger of Taichung City and Taichung County and the same formula of a city-county merger will apply to Tainan and Kaohsiung.
"How successful they will become as cities is still left to be seen, " said Eric Chen-hua Yu, a professor at National Chengchi University's Election Studies Center.
In the past, the political rivalry between neighboring cities and counties like Taichung City and Taichung County, for example, was rooted in the distribution of resources, he noted. Counties tend to have larger land areas and more residents, while cities have more resources, including bigger budgets, he said.
"The new cities of Taichung, Tainan and Kaohsiung will have to deal with this issue and find solutions quickly," Yu added.
On the significance of the Nov. 27 mayoral elections, Yu said it remains to be seen whether they would be a "precursor" to the 2012 presidential election.
The results of mayoral elections will be a more important indicator to the opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) because its presidential candidate is not yet known, while incumbent President Ma Ying-jeou of the Kuomingtang is more than likely to be seeking a second term, he said.
John Liu, a professor at the Graduate Institute of Building and Planning, National Taiwan University, argued that rezoning of the cities and counties was based simply on "political considerations."
"It was a mistake that could actually jeopardize Taiwan's national and regional competitiveness, " Liu said. (By Chris Wang) Enditem /pc