In Taiwan, municipal elections are not confined to local administrative mandates, but they also serve as a critical political barometer for the island nation’s democratic trajectory, party leadership dynamics, and cross-Strait relations. Ahead of this November 28, the nationwide local election battleground offers crucial insights into how major political forces are reshaping their narratives to engage voters. Far from being a mere referendum on municipal service delivery, this election tests the strength of security-centred discourse against daily socio-economic strains, tests opposition strategy against ideological fractures, and forces candidates to confront tangible structural challenges in everyday governance. This special issue thus features three core themes: party politics, cultural policies, and urban ecology.
Through Party Politics, our issue opens by tracing the national political currents and party rivalries shaping voter behaviour. Meng Kit Tang examines the slogan of “resist China, protect Taiwan” (抗中保台), tracing its evolution into a dominant political framework. He considers what this security-centred language can obscure, from economic interdependence to housing, wages and public trust. Expanding on cross-Strait positioning, Tin Pak and Sam Lee examine KMT chair Cheng Li-wun’s efforts to strengthen ties with Beijing, assessing the motivations behind her approach and its risks for party unity and electoral prospects. Chu-hui (Emily) Yang explores how a misleadingly framed video of Cheng’s remarks circulated across platforms and ideological communities, showing how information manipulation can reinforce divisions even after fact-checking. Finally, Jonathan Leung offers two perspectives on the electoral landscape. He maps the shift in competitive battlegrounds towards northern Taiwan, then examines KMT internal rivalries and how the results may shape party leadership and the 2028 presidential contest.
Shifting to Cultural Policies, we present three articles to examine proposals and campaign discourse surrounding Taiwan’s 2026 local elections, observing how candidates approach cultural development, resource allocation, and the relationship between culture and everyday life. The two articles highlight emerging policy priorities, the role of cultural capital, and the challenges of ensuring equitable cultural participation, sustainable development, and accountable governance.
The third theme, Urban Ecology, grounds the lens on local elections in the immediate, physical friction of municipal administration. In the capital, Taipei, the mayoral race has unfolded against acute environmental strain, with severe rat infestations exposing waste management failures, public outcry over aggressive street tree removal, and shrinkingThe third theme, Urban Ecology, grounds the lens on local elections in the immediate, physical friction of municipal administration. In the capital, Taipei, the mayoral race has unfolded against acute environmental strain, with severe rat infestations exposing waste management failures, public outcry over aggressive street tree removal, and shrinking urban canopy cover. In response, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Taipei mayoral candidate Puma Shen has introduced an “Urban Micro-Forest” policy (微森林政策), framing dense, biodiverse pockets of native vegetation not as decorative greenery but as critical public infrastructure to mitigate heat islands and stormwater runoff. Five contributions interrogate this DPP’s socio-ecological imaginaries of urban governance, treating the metropolitan landscape as a sharp lens for spatial justice, bureaucratic reform, and citizen participation in the current stagnant development of a high-density yet partitioning-governed Taipei.