Department of Health, Taipei City Government

Due to the impact of COVID-19 on Taiwan over the past two and a half years, the city residents’ way of life has changed. In response to changes in the pandemic situation, Taipei City has adjusted the mode of healthy city promotion to build a resilient and healthy city that is livable and sustainable. The Department of Health, Taipei City Government simultaneously held the physical and online “2022 Taipei Healthy City Forum” at the International Conference Hall (11F) of the Second Administration Center, Taipei City and on the Taipei City Government’s official YouTube channel. At the same time, Taipei City Mayor Wen-Je Ko was invited to give an opening address at the venue, marking the beginning of the forum.

Mayor Ko said that with the global impact of the pandemic, healthcare services and economic activities have been subject to tremendous impacts. In response to global health and welfare, how can the sustainable development goals (SDGs) be connected through such strategies as resilience, sustainability, technology, public and private sector partnerships, etc.? Combining the city government team, district offices, other base organizations, and city residents, a service blueprint in close proximity to city residents’ needs has been planned through joint efforts, implementing policies each and every day and enabling city residents to lead a better and healthier life.

Mayor Ko emphasized that in view of issues arising from Taipei City’s rapid urban development and aging population, The commissioner of the Department of Health, Taipei City Government Shier-Chieg Huang was given the task of integrating the resources of 31 bureaus and divisions under the Taipei City Government toward the end of 2015. A platform for the promotion of a healthy city and age-friendly city was also set up, consisting of five working groups: “safety and protection”, “sustainable ecology”, “friendly culture”, “vitality and health”, and “prosperity and convenience”. In conjunction with the city government’s strategic maps and policy administration focuses, joint promotions were carried out under the guidance of cross-domain experts and teams were actively involved in exchanges at international conferences. In 2016, Taiwan successfully joined the World Health Organization and became a member of the Alliance for Healthy Cities (AFHC). The promotion of a healthy city relies on horizontal cross-domain collaboration and the concerted efforts of exert teams. It is only through top-down city governance, bottom-up community cultivation, strengthening the participation of city residents, and comprehensively improving the health and life quality of city residents can we build a livable, sustainable, and healthy Taipei City.

With “The Co-creation of a Healthy and Resilient New Life is Up to Us at the Community Level” as the focus of this forum, practitioners in the community were invited to share their actual promotion experiences in the community. Through the three issues of “safety and reliability’, “sustainability and resilience”, and “health and mutual-aid”, industry-government-academia experts were invited to serve as speakers and panelists. The forum topics were rich and diverse. For instance, Former Deputy Director-General Cheng-Che Kuan of the National Police Agency, MOI shared on strengthening the social security network, with mental health as the theme; Director Yueh-Yin Li of the Department of Information Technology, Taipei City Government shared on the Taipei City Government setting up a digital service infrastructure as an important policy administration and the development of “Digital Pass-TaipeiPASS” providing convenient digital services for the general public; retired honorable professor Chung-Huang Huang of the National Tsing Hua University and lifelong distinguished professor Pen-Chi Chiang of the National Taiwan University were invited to talk on innovative green economy and low-carbon recycling issues; Director-general Tsai-Li Li of the Department of Sports, Taipei City Government shared on innovative practices related to promoting sports for all ages (old and weak people, women, children, and new residents), under the pandemic; Consultant Ben-Chen Sun of the Ministry of Labor explored the generation gap in a super-aged society, leading to the co-creation of a learning environment for youth and seniors. It is expected that through the sharing and brainstorming among experts and scholars, we can work together to overcome pandemic difficulties and create a post-pandemic new healthy life.