The New Taipei mayoral race has turned to urban renewal policy, with the two main candidates arguing over whether a new bureau should be created — bad news for residents hoping to speed up the rebuilding of ageing housing, since the two sides have yet to agree on a direction.

• Kuomintang candidate Li Si-chun has proposed that the mayor personally convene an urban renewal promotion committee to speed up reviews.
• Democratic Progressive Party candidate Su Chiao-hui questioned the approach, noting that it has not been implemented in Taipei City, and argued instead for setting up a dedicated bureau.
• Li countered that the bottleneck in urban renewal is speed rather than administrative rank, and that adding another bureau would only increase coordination costs.
• He also noted that New Taipei's Urban Renewal Office was established while he was deputy county magistrate, and that a single-window service has long been in place.
• The Urban Renewal Office and the Urban and Rural Development Department are closely linked on urban planning and floor-area incentives, and separating them would in fact be slower.

Outlook: Urban renewal efficiency is set to be one of the main battlegrounds in the year-end New Taipei mayoral race, and the two sides are expected to keep trading fire.