Urban prosperity does not always begin with industrial parks or investment briefings — sometimes, it begins overnight, when the heartbeats of 170,000 people land in a stadium, shaking the ground like an invisible wave of urban renewal.
During the two nights that K-pop group Twice performed in Kaohsiung last weekend, the city was not just a city. Instead, it felt like a massive body that had just woken up — the MRT’s blood flow sped up, the night markets’ sense of smell remained active until 4am and the shopping districts swelled as if injected with oxygen. This was not a random burst of revelry, but rather a prototype Kaohsiung is deliberately creating — the “City of Concerts” is beginning to take shape.
Riding the K-pop wave, Kaohsiung did not merely host a concert this time around — it turned the entire city into the stage, the set and even the chorus. The small blue tickets, the steam rising from night markets that stayed open until dawn, the custom cocktails specially crafted by restaurants and bars for Twice fans — every subtle gesture told a story. The city is learning how to converse with its visitors rather than simply treating them as fleeting consumers.
Kaohsiung’s strategy this time was not about generating NT$500 million (US$15.9 million) in economic output, nor about setting a new MRT ridership record of 350,000 people in a single day. Rather, it was about holding the concert carefully in the palm of its hand. In the past, when cities hosted major events, everything looked identical — crowd dispersal plans, traffic control and fully booked hotels. Kaohsiung’s approach this time was more akin to curating an exhibition — issuing cross-district discount vouchers, integrating shared transportation, extending night market hours and launching collaborative cocktails at restaurants and bars. The goal was to allow fans to leave the concert to enter a second layer of the story woven throughout the city, forming a learning experience for Kaohsiung itself.
Even more important is that Kaohsiung treated fan culture as a community to be understood, rather than a mere crowd to be controlled. The city government used smart transportation and data analysis to track fan movement, allowing public services to adjust accordingly instead of forcing concertgoers to fend for themselves when navigating the city. Kaohsiung recognizes that cultural activities are not just about singing onstage and listening offstage — the city itself must step onto the stage as well.
Many cities are jealous of others’ success, yet reluctant to bear the burden associated with hosting large events. Kaohsiung, on the other hand, is happy to have crowded streets and packed MRT cars, and more than willing to adjust its schedule to accommodate groups of visitors from out of town. Such flexibility is a sign of mature urban governance.
Could this just be a short-term effect? Kaohsiung is not relying on a single stroke of luck — it is gradually building a replicable model. Next month’s Asia Artist Awards, a major South Korean entertainment awards show, would also be held in the city, and the Kaohsiung National Stadium’s calendar is fully booked for next year. This is no coincidence — it is the result of the city’s determination to integrate cultural events into its economic structure.
The concert economy is captivating not only because it stimulates local businesses, but because it ignites a sense of community within the city. Fans roam through the streets, and the city extends its arms to welcome them. Such is a genuine moment of unity, showing visitors that southern Taiwan is a stage capable of attracting passion and enthusiasm from afar. The Twice event demonstrates that when a city is willing to treat cultural events as nourishment, it would move forward in the most gentle and graceful way.
Liu Che-ting is a writer.
Translated by Kyra Gustavsen
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