Jui Shih Works



urban planner | educator | maker
js6676@columbia.edu
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© Jui Shih, 2023 - 2026




Master’s Thesis: 
From Balconies to Riversides, Tracing Housing Informality in Taipei Taiwan

Subject(s)
Urban Planning, Urban Policy, Housing, Informality, Indigeneity, Political Economy

Course
Urban Planning Master Thesis 

Tools
Adobe illustrator, Adobe InDesign, ArcGIS Pro, Excel, Python

Project Location    
Taipei, Taiwan   

Completed Period
May 2026


This yearlong research project grew out of a question I had for a long time about my childhood city - Why are rooftop extensions, enclosed balconies, and other forms of informal housing such common practice in Taipei? What do they reveal about the city’s history and housing system? As I followed these questions, the research expanded into an investigation into Taiwan's postwar urban development, political economy, housing policies, Indigenous urbanism, and the everyday ways people negotiate space in a rapidly changing and increasingly expensive city. 

Beginnig from an iterative process of reviewing secondary and archival researches, this thesis then took me back to Taipei, where I got to meet with scholars and local residents who generously shared their first-hand experience and knowledge with me. 

Full Report 

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