Taipei was named the city with the “highest staying power” in the world by US-based design and architecture firm Gensler.
The Taiwanese capital earned the top spot among 65 cities across six continents with 64 percent of Taipei respondents in a survey of 33,000 people saying they wanted to stay in the city.
Rounding out the top five were Vietnam’s Ho Chi Minh City (61 percent), Singapore (59 percent), Sydney (58 percent) and Berlin (51 percent). Sixth to 10th place went to Monterrey, Mexico; Munich, Germany; Sao Paulo, Brazil; Vancouver; and Seoul.
Photo: Ann Wang, Reuters
Cities in the US were ranked separately, with Minneapolis first at 53 percent, followed by San Antonio, Texas, (53 percent) and San Diego, California, (50 percent).
“While the decision to move to a new city is often driven by practical needs — like affordability, safety and healthcare — choosing to stay is shaped by much more intangible factors,” Gensler said in a report released on June 17.
“It’s not enough to build economic infrastructure,” it said. “A city becomes home when it inspires pride, offers moments of joy and fosters a true sense of belonging.”
Josh Edbrooke, a British music fan who has lived in Taiwan for a decade, on Friday said that he enjoys Taipei’s music scene, as it is easy to see independent bands and keep up with music news.
“I have been to Beijing, Tokyo and Seoul and I found the pace of life there faster, while it is slower and more flexible in Taipei,” said Tim Smith, an American.
Taipei scored above the global average in all eight key indicators in the survey: economic strength (73 percent), peace and stability (78 percent), vibrancy (76 percent), climate preparedness (69 percent), improving quality of life (71 percent), investing in neighborhoods (70 percent), addressing homelessness (60 percent) and reducing crime (71 percent).
The staying power of cities reflected respondents’ likelihood of leaving their homes. Taipei and Ho Chi Minh City were nearly tied for the lowest average likelihood of leaving, followed by Shanghai, Singapore and Riyadh.
Gensler’s analysis found that respondents in the Asia-Pacific region were the least likely to leave their city, at 29 percent.
However, Taipei did not lead in resident satisfaction, ranking 14th, with 80 percent of respondents saying they were “satisfied” or “very satisfied.”
Shanghai topped the category at 94 percent, followed by Abu Dhabi and Mumbai, India (both 92 percent); Dubai, United Arab Emirates (91 percent); and Delhi and Bangalore, India (both 90 percent).
Athens had the lowest satisfaction rate, with 44 percent of respondents saying they were satisfied.
The survey was first conducted in the spring of 2020 with only four cities. It was conducted twice a year until 2022, before switching to an annual format in 2023.
This year was the first time Taipei was included.
AGING: While Japan has 22 submarines, Taiwan only operates four, two of which were commissioned by the US in 1945 and 1946, and transferred to Taiwan in 1973 Taiwan would need at least 12 submarines to reach modern fleet capabilities, CSBC Corp, Taiwan chairman Chen Cheng-hung (陳政宏) said in an interview broadcast on Friday, citing a US assessment. CSBC is testing the nation’s first indigenous defense submarine, the Hai Kun (海鯤, Narwhal), which is scheduled to be delivered to the navy next month or in July. The Hai Kun has completed torpedo-firing tests and is scheduled to undergo overnight sea trials, Chen said on an SET TV military affairs program. Taiwan would require at least 12 submarines to establish a modern submarine force after assessing the nation’s operational environment and defense
A white king snake that frightened passengers and caused a stir on a Taipei MRT train on Friday evening has been claimed by its owner, who would be fined, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC) said yesterday. A person on Threads posted that he thought he was lucky to find an empty row of seats on Friday after boarding a train on the Bannan (Blue) Line, only to spot a white snake with black stripes after sitting down. Startled, he jumped up, he wrote, describing the encounter as “terrifying.” “Taipei’s rat control plan: Release snakes on the metro,” one person wrote in reply, referring
The coast guard today said that it had disrupted "illegal" operations by a Chinese research ship in waters close to the nation and driven it away, part of what Taipei sees a provocative pattern of China's stepped up maritime activities. The coast guard said that it on Thursday last week detected the Chinese ship Tongji (同濟號), which was commissioned only last year, 29 nautical miles (54km) southeast of the southern tip of Taiwan, although just outside restricted waters. The ship was observed lowering ropes into the water, suspected to be the deployment of scientific instruments for "illegal" survey operations, and the coast
Taiwan’s two cases of hantavirus so far this year are on par with previous years’ case numbers, and the government is coordinating rat extermination work, so there should not be any outbreaks, Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Director-General Philip Lo (羅一鈞) said today in an interview with the Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper). An increase in rat sightings in Taipei and New Taipei City has raised concerns about the spread of hantavirus, as rats can carry the disease. In January, a man in his 70s who lived in Taipei’s Daan District (大安) tested positive posthumously for hantavirus, Taiwan’s
RSS