New Taipei City Government has achieved another major milestone in advancing sustainable and smart city development. At the opening ceremony and awards presentation of the 2026 5th SDG Asia, held today (August 27) at Taipei World Trade Center Hall 1, the New Taipei City Government Public Venue Rental System stood out among leading projects from across the Asia-Pacific region and received the Silver Award in the Social Inclusion category under SDG 12: Responsible Consumption and Production at the 5th Asia-Pacific Sustainability Action Awards (APSAA). This international recognition highlights New Taipei City’s outstanding achievements in digital governance and resource sharing. It also marks the city government’s third consecutive year of winning an award at this prestigious Asia-Pacific sustainability event, from 2024 through 2026. Representing the New Taipei City Government at today’s awards ceremony, Director of the Information Management Center, Chen Fu-Tien, accepted the award on behalf of the city. The achievement demonstrates to the international community how New Taipei City is integrating the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) into everyday urban governance while pursuing forward-looking and innovative approaches to city development.

 

    The Asia-Pacific and Taiwan Sustainability Action Awards are organized by the Taiwan Institute for Sustainable Energy (TAISE) and are regarded as an influential and authoritative sustainability assessment program in the Asia-Pacific region. The awards are closely aligned with the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) under the United Nations’ 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted in 2015. An international panel of judges conducts multiple rounds of comprehensive evaluation based on five key dimensions: advancing goals and vision; leveraging core capabilities to implement the SDGs; approaches and innovative practices; creation of social value and impact; and scalability and replicability. The awards recognize outstanding companies, universities, hospitals, government agencies, and nonprofit organizations across the Asia-Pacific region for their contributions and exemplary practices in sustainable governance, social inclusion, and environmental sustainability. This year, New Taipei City Government showcased its Public Venue Rental System, which transforms complex cross-agency administrative resources into a transparent and digital platform while creating a highly scalable model for sharing and circulating public resources. The project earned high praise from the international judging panel and successfully secured the Silver Award among numerous outstanding projects across the Asia-Pacific region.

    Upon receiving the award, Director Chen Fu-Tien noted that New Taipei City is Taiwan’s most populous special municipality, covering a vast geographical area and comprising a large number of administrative units. In the past, information on public venues operated by district offices, schools, activity centers, sports facilities, and other public agencies was dispersed across different government entities. Residents seeking to rent these venues often faced challenges such as limited access to information, complicated application procedures, inconsistent fee structures, and duplicate bookings. To break down administrative barriers and address information inequality, the city government began integrating information from 364 government agencies and institutions across New Taipei City in 2020. Today, more than 1,715 public venues are consolidated on a single online platform, creating Taiwan’s first cross-agency online public venue rental service. Residents can now use a smartphone or computer to access the platform, check venue availability in real time through an intuitive venue calendar, submit applications online, and make payments through multiple electronic payment methods. This provides a convenient one-stop, fully paperless service. At the same time, the back-end system is connected with government administrative systems, eliminating the need for manual reconciliation and duplicate registration. To date, the system has recorded more than 84.53 million page views and user visits, successfully processed over 16,000 applications, and facilitated approximately 240,000 venue rentals, with total rental time exceeding 320,000 hours. The system has significantly improved the utilization and activation of public assets while enhancing residents’ satisfaction with the city government’s smart services.

    In recent years, the New Taipei City Government has continued to embed sustainability, smart technology, and inclusiveness into the city’s development. In 2024, NewTaiPAY received two Bronze Awards, at the 4th Taiwan Sustainability Action Award (TSAA) and the 3rd Asia-Pacific Sustainability Action Awards (APSAA), in the Economic Development category under SDG 13. In 2025, the 5G Smart Pole Project received a Gold Award at the 5th TSAA in the Environmental Sustainability category under SDG 9. This year, the Public Venue Rental System has once again earned international recognition with a Silver Award at the APSAA, further extending New Taipei City’s record of achievements in sustainable smart governance. Looking ahead, New Taipei City Government will continue to place residents’ needs at the center of its development strategy, deepen digital transformation and green governance, and expand successful experiences across a broad range of public services. Through these efforts, the city aims to build a livable international metropolis that combines technological innovation, human-centered care, and ecological sustainability.