When pursuing urban renewal in Taipei City, you must distinguish between "the city government's willingness thresholds for early public urban renewal assistance (the 7599 Project and 575 Project)" and "the nationwide statutory consent thresholds for formally filing an urban renewal business plan under Article 37 of the Urban Renewal Act (《都市更新條例》第 37 條: over 50%, 75%, 80%, and the over-90% area headcount exemption)". Simply put, the 7599 Project (general sites of 2,000 m² or larger, entering at 75% Stage 1 willingness) and the 575 Project (high-chloride "sea-sand" or seismically hazardous buildings, entering at over 50% Stage 1 willingness) are administrative programs where the Taipei City Government steps in early to run architectural massing and financial estimates and solicit investors; later, when formally submitting the "urban renewal business plan" (都市更新事業計畫) for review, the project must still meet the statutory consent ratios under Article 37 of the Urban Renewal Act. Based on the Urban Renewal Act and Taipei City Urban Renewal Office announcements verified on 2026-11-07, this article compares both projects and the statutory thresholds.
Core concept first: "Public urban renewal project willingness ratios" are not the same as "Article 37 statutory filing thresholds"
Many older-home owners in Taipei ask: "The news says the public urban renewal 575 Project only needs 50% consent and the 7599 Project needs 75%—does that mean the 80% threshold in Article 37 of the Urban Renewal Act has been abolished?" The answer is no—they apply at different stages:
- Front-end counseling and investor solicitation stage (Taipei Public Urban Renewal 7599 / 575 Projects): Historically, communities asking the government to lead public urban renewal had to gather a very high consent ratio upfront, yet owners hesitated to sign before seeing "how many ping they would get back and how much they would pay". Taipei City designed the 7599 and 575 Projects so that once residents sign "Public Urban Renewal Willingness Forms" (公辦都更意願書) reaching Stage 1 (75% or over 50%), city technical teams step in early free of charge to prepare building massing and financial estimates.
- Back-end statutory review stage (Article 37 of the Urban Renewal Act): Once the financial estimate and mock unit selection (模擬選配) succeed and the Taipei Housing and Urban Renewal Center (臺北市住宅及都市更新中心) or selected implementer submits the formal "urban renewal business plan" to the city's urban renewal review council, it must gather formal "Urban Renewal Business Plan Consent Forms" (都市更新事業計畫同意書) meeting the statutory ratios of Article 37.
If your community's land site is smaller than 2,000 square meters and ineligible for large-scale public urban renewal projects, compare private urban renewal against the Dangerous and Old Buildings Act in the site's comparison of Taipei and New Taipei urban renewal versus dangerous-and-old building reconstruction.
Taipei Public Urban Renewal "7599 Project" vs "575 Project": eligibility and 3-stage process table
The Taipei City Urban Renewal Office (臺北市都市更新處) provides two fast tracks—the 7599 Project for general large aging communities and the 575 Project for high-chloride concrete ("sea-sand") or seismically hazardous buildings:
| Comparison item | Taipei Public Urban Renewal "7599 Project Plan" (7599 專案計畫) | Taipei Public Urban Renewal "575 Project Plan" (575 專案計畫) |
|---|
| Target buildings and conditions | General aging communities located within Taipei City's announced designated renewal areas, without sea-sand or red/yellow danger tags | Buildings listed by the city for mandatory demolition and reconstruction as high-chloride concrete buildings (sea-sand buildings 海砂屋), quake-damaged red/yellow-tagged dangerous buildings, or buildings assessed as having insufficient seismic capacity posing a clear hazard to public safety |
| Site area threshold and restrictions | Site area of 2,000 m² (about 605 ping) or more, where no private implementer has held a self-organized public hearing | Site area of 2,000 m² (about 605 ping) or more (or meeting project street-block / area rules), where no self-organized public hearing has been held |
| Stage 1 threshold (early entry and financial estimate) | Both headcount and area of private land and private legal building owners reach 75% willingness | Both headcount and area of private land and private legal building owners exceed 50% (simple majority) willingness |
| What the city government does in Stage 1 | After acceptance, the city commissions a professional technical team to run architectural massing and financial estimates and holds a briefing for residents on estimated return ratios | The city and private technical teams rapidly prepare draft architectural layouts and financial estimates and hold an explanation briefing for residents |
| Stage 2 threshold (scheme evaluation and solicitation prep) | After the briefing, resident renewal willingness survey reaches 90% in both headcount and area | After the briefing, resident renewal willingness survey reaches 75% in both headcount and area |
| Stage 3 (mock unit selection and public investor solicitation) | The Taipei Housing and Urban Renewal Center conducts "mock unit selection" (模擬選配); once the selection participation rate reaches 90%, public solicitation of investors and statutory business plan filing proceed | Taipei City designates the Taipei Housing and Urban Renewal Center as implementer to publicly solicit investors, run mock unit selection, and file the urban renewal business plan |
To check whether your apartment is over 30 years old or shows signs of structural aging, use the site's building age calculator and old-house checkup tool; for special floor-area-ratio (FAR) incentives for sea-sand and seismically deficient buildings in Taipei, read the site's guide to Taipei unsafe and old building reconstruction FAR incentives.
Article 37 of the Urban Renewal Act: nationwide statutory consent thresholds for filing an "urban renewal business plan"
When any urban renewal case (whether private developer-led, resident self-organized renewal association, or publicly solicited) formally submits its "urban renewal business plan" to the competent authority for approval, Article 37 paragraph 1 of the Urban Renewal Act requires simultaneously exceeding four statutory metrics—"private land owner headcount", "private legal building owner headcount", "total private land area", and "total private legal building floor area" (note: the statutory wording is strictly "exceeding" (超過) the ratio; exactly equal does not pass):
| Renewal area category and implementation method (Urban Renewal Act Article 37) | Private land and private legal building "owner headcount" threshold | Total private land area and private legal building "total floor area" threshold |
|---|
| 1. Government-led under Article 12 (publicly selecting an urban renewal business institution) or "expeditiously designated" (迅行劃定) renewal areas under Article 7 (such as major disasters or listed sea-sand areas) | Both exceed 1/2 (50%) | Both exceed 1/2 (50%) |
| 2. Within government-"designated renewal areas" (劃定應實施更新之地區) under Article 22, implemented by owners or a commissioned implementer | Both exceed 3/4 (75%) | Both exceed 3/4 (75%) |
| 3. In "areas not yet designated for renewal", where owners "self-delineate a renewal unit" (自行劃定更新單元) under Article 23 | Both exceed 4/5 (80%) | Both exceed 4/5 (80%) |
| 4. Special "headcount-exempt" rule when area consent exceeds 90% (proviso to Article 37 paragraph 1) | Owner headcount is not counted (headcount exempt) | Both total private land area and total private legal building floor area exceed 9/10 (90%) consent |
Row 4 in the table above—"where consent exceeds 9/10 (90%) of area, the owner headcount is not calculated"—is crucial in practice: in some older communities, almost all full-unit owners agree to rebuild, but one or two tiny fractional co-owned shares (for example, 10 heirs jointly inheriting 1 ping of land) cannot be reached or object, blocking the "headcount" from exceeding 75% or 80%; as long as consenting private land and legal building floor areas both exceed 90%, the case can legally file without counting headcount.
In addition, under Article 37 paragraphs 2 and 3 of the Urban Renewal Act, public land and public buildings must participate in urban renewal in principle, so the consent ratios in paragraph 1 are calculated solely across "private" land and private legal buildings (with statutory exclusions for historic monuments, ancestral worship associations 祭祀公業, religious societies, or unregistered inherited land under listed management set out in paragraph 4).
3 self-protection rules for residents before signing consent forms
- Distinguish a "renewal unit / public project willingness form" from a "business plan consent form": The Stage 1 "Public Urban Renewal Willingness Form" simply asks the city team to run early estimates and does not dispose of your property rights; the later "Urban Renewal Business Plan Consent Form" is the statutory binding document under Article 37, so verify the allocation ratio, common-burden ratio, unit-selection rules, and building material grades before signing.
- Know your right to revoke consent before the public exhibition period ends (Urban Renewal Act Article 37 paragraph 5): If, after signing a business plan consent form, an owner discovers that the allocation ratio or rights value stated in the publicly exhibited "urban renewal business plan" is lower than what was agreed when the consent form was issued, the owner may submit a written revocation of consent to the implementer and competent authority before the public exhibition period expires.
- If rebuilding is not yet feasible, evaluate building maintenance and renovation first: If a building has just turned 30, remains structurally sound, and lacks consensus for demolition, consider applying for old-home extension or building maintenance subsidies (facade refurbishment, adding an elevator); see the site's structural and budget decision guide on renovating versus rebuilding an older home.
Frequently asked questions
Our community wants to apply for Taipei's Public Urban Renewal 7599 Project, but our site area is only 350 ping (about 1,157 m²)—do we qualify?
The baseline requirement for the 7599 Project is sitting within a designated renewal area with a site area of 2,000 m² (about 605 ping) or more. If your site is only 350 ping, ask adjacent buildings on the block whether they are willing to merge to reach 2,000 m²+; if merging is not possible, pursue standard private urban renewal (under Article 22 or Article 23) or evaluate eligibility under the Dangerous and Old Buildings Act.
What does "90% mock unit selection rate" in Stage 3 of the 7599 Project mean?
In traditional urban renewal, residents often do not find out which new unit they can select until a developer is chosen and the business and rights-transformation plans are drafted, leading to late-stage disputes. The 7599 Project moves "mock unit selection" (模擬選配) ahead of developer solicitation: the Taipei Housing and Urban Renewal Center lets residents pre-select their preferred future unit layouts and parking spaces based on the estimated architectural and financial model; reaching a 90% participation rate shows strong resident consensus, greatly increasing the success rate of public investor solicitation.
Does the floor area of a rooftop addition (illegal structure) count toward the Article 37 consent area or trade for new floor area?
No. Article 37 of the Urban Renewal Act explicitly calculates consent ratios based on the owner headcount and total floor area of "private land" and "private legal buildings"; unregistered rooftop illegal structures are excluded from legal floor area and cannot be converted into new apartment floor area in rights transformation (at most, some projects or implementers pay a structure removal compensation fee under local rules).
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