Complaints by Taipei residents about defective park playgrounds have risen to more than 1,000 cases in the past two years, Democratic Progressive Party Taipei City Councilor Hung Wan-jen (洪婉臻) said yesterday.
Among the 446 playgrounds in the city, 1,345 complaints were reported last year, up from 1,079 in 2022 and 946 in 2021, Hung said.
As of May 7, 221 city parks had not been inspected for more than three years and 139 park playgrounds were undergoing improvements, she said, adding that the improvements should be accelerated to ensure children’s safety.
Photo courtesy of Taipei Public Works Department
Repair works take an average of 24 days and could last up to 375 days, which is clearly too long, Hung said.
The repair of inclusive playground equipment, which has been promoted by the city government for many years, could drag on for months due to a shortage of materials, she added.
The Public Works Department’s Parks and Street Lights Office should try to shorten the repair period and optimize its management of frequently repaired items and material inventory, Hung said.
The office yesterday said that 81 city parks were identified as having deficiencies after inspection, which are expected to be fully resolved by the end of next month.
The office has collected and classified the faults and deficiencies found in Taipei’s 446 park playgrounds, and would ask the contractor to prepare the materials for frequently damaged parts in advance for the future construction or renovation of playgrounds, it said.
The contractor would also be required to specify repair timeframes to reduce the waiting period and post a notice with the expected date of completion to inform visitors, the office added.
Hung said she has received multiple requests to construct inclusive parks in neighborhoods.
Residents of Wanhua District (萬華區) and Zhongzheng District (中正) were particularly keen, as they have the least number of parks among the administrative districts in Taipei, she said.
The authorities should implement a construction plan of inclusive facilities at the riverside park crossing both districts, while also looking into the possibility of building inclusive neighborhood parks in smaller districts, Hung said.
The department’s Hydraulic Engineering Office yesterday said that the construction plan of the riverside park has been put into practice, while the roadmaps and designs would be completed by the second half of this year, and the engineering projects would be outsourced next year.
The Parks and Street Lights Office said that playgrounds of all levels in the city have been successively revamped according to local needs every year since 2016.
While Wanhua District and Zhongzheng District collectively have eight out of the 72 inclusive park playgrounds governed by the office, construction or renovation plans would continue to meet local needs while maintaining a regional balance, it said.
Additional reporting by CNA.
Taipei has once again made it to the top 100 in Oxford Economics’ Global Cities Index 2025 report, moving up five places from last year to 60. The annual index, which was published last month, evaluated 1,000 of the most populated metropolises based on five indices — economics, human capital, quality of life, environment and governance. New York maintained its top spot this year, placing first in the economics index thanks to the strength of its vibrant financial industry and economic stability. Taipei ranked 263rd in economics, 44th in human capital, 15th in quality of life, 284th for environment and 75th in governance,
Greenpeace yesterday said that it is to appeal a decision last month by the Taipei High Administrative Court to dismiss its 2021 lawsuit against the Ministry of Economic Affairs over “loose” regulations governing major corporate electricity consumers. The climate-related lawsuit — the first of its kind in Taiwan — sought to require the government to enforce higher green energy thresholds on major corporations to reduce emissions in light of climate change and an uptick in extreme weather. The suit, filed by Greenpeace East Asia, the Environmental Jurists Association and four individual plaintiffs, was dismissed on May 8 following four years of litigation. The
A former officer in China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) who witnessed the aftermath of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre has warned that Taiwan could face a similar fate if China attempts to unify the country by force. Li Xiaoming (李曉明), who was deployed to Beijing as a junior officer during the crackdown, said Taiwanese people should study the massacre carefully, because it offers a glimpse of what Beijing is willing to do to suppress dissent. “What happened in Tiananmen Square could happen in Taiwan too,” Li told CNA in a May 22 interview, ahead of the massacre’s 36th anniversary. “If Taiwanese students or
The New Taipei City Government would assist relatives of those killed or injured in last month’s car-ramming incident in Sansia District (三峽) to secure compensation, Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜) said yesterday, two days after the driver died in a hospital. “The city government will do its best to help the relatives of the car crash incident seek compensation,” Hou said. The mayor also said that the city’s Legal Affairs, Education and Social Welfare departments have established a joint mechanism to “provide coordinated assistance” to victims and their families. Three people were killed and 12 injured when a car plowed into schoolchildren and their