Taipei's new mayor, Hau Lung-bin, takes over a city that is undergoing a crisis of confidence despite nearly 15 years of rapid progress. While riding on their shiny subway or shopping in the shadow of the towering Taipei 101 building, many Taipei residents are wondering if the good times are really over.
Once Taiwan's wealthiest city in terms of household income, Taipei is being overtaken by Hsinchu, the centre of the island's hi-tech industry. Taipei's population is stagnant and ageing, as young families find it impossible to make ends meet there, and the educated elite and investors move to the mainland.
Further, Taipei's once-unquestioned status as the centre of Taiwan's political, cultural and financial wealth is eroding. The island's government, controlled by the Democratic Progressive Party, is showering money - which once would have gone to heavily Kuomintang Taipei - on other parts of the island. There is even talk of moving the capital to central or southern Taiwan as a way to redress nearly a century of uneven development.
Mr Hau has set three priorities for his new administration: building new subway lines, developing Taipei's extensive riverfronts, and cracking down on crime. While these are all commendable projects, they don't add up to a compelling vision of how Taipei can become the world-class city its citizens want it to be. The new subway lines are simply an extension of the ongoing development of Taipei's more modern eastern sections.
Mr Hau's zero-tolerance, anti-crime campaign is somewhat more promising. That's not because Taipei has a serious crime problem: it's one of the safest cities you will ever visit, as long as you can avoid getting hit by a car. Now if he could just get Taipei's finest out of their police stations and have them walk beats through neighbourhoods, some of the annoyances of Taipei living could be lessened. These include drivers who don't yield and scooter riders who career down pavements.
Mr Hau ran a modest campaign. Its real focus was on outgoing mayor Ma Ying-jeou, who is enormously popular with the city's middle-class voters. Mr Hau was really elected to endorse Mr Ma's leadership of the Kuomintang - of which he is chairman. As Mr Ma's hand-picked successor, he could hardly do anything other than promise to continue Mr Ma's policies and style.