With the campaign for Taoyuan mayor now under way, Democratic Progressive Party candidate Huang Shih-chieh has made children's play spaces a signature policy — good news for families with young children, and a direct challenge to incumbent mayor Chang San-cheng's record.

• Huang signed a policy pledge on children's play spaces put forward by Parks and Playgrounds for Children by Children, centred on a "ten-minute playground circle" that would put a park within a ten-minute walk for every child.
• He plans a comprehensive audit of all 13 of Taoyuan's administrative districts, starting with the neighbourhoods that have the fewest facilities, so that families no longer have to drive their children on weekends to make a "pilgrimage" to a themed park.
• With summers growing hotter, he argues parks need to be cooled down: more trees, more shade, permeable paving, and more water-play areas.
• He also singled out the long-standing lack of space for teenagers, calling for skateboarding, climbing and extreme sports facilities, along with upgraded playground equipment at schools for use during recess.
• He criticised the themed parks built early in Chang San-cheng's term as largely inherited from planning done under his predecessor Cheng Wen-tsan, arguing the city government should now put forward policies of its own for the next stage.

Outlook: Parks and childcare policy look set to become a central line of attack in this Taoyuan mayoral race, with Chang San-cheng's camp expected to push back that his record is being undersold.