都市基礎設施治理的失靈與調節：台北市公共無線網路的個案

Abstract

原為公部門所有的都市基礎設施，在晚近面臨財政危機，依循去管制化與私有化的新自由主義方針轉型，發展模式轉向私營化或公私合夥的體制。然而，私營化與公私合夥模式，並不能保證基礎設施成功的發展，亦會面臨治理失靈的危機。本文討論台北市無線網路建置的過程，其原先公私合夥的模式，在市場中遭逢營運的困境後，再由公部門接手，轉變為由公共支出支持的「免費」模式的特殊路徑。本文援引調節理論的分析視角，將這種「免費化」的過程視為對於新自由主義下治理失靈的調節，且應放在跨域競爭與都市政治進步論述的脈絡中檢視。在台灣的都市政治脈絡中，就都市基礎設施而言，新自由主義化都市治理的失靈，在表面上是基礎設施市場營運的困境，但也同時連結到城市跨域競爭與都市政治的面向。本文分析市政府的公共無線網路政策與論述，指出公共無線網路建設的競爭和進步發展想像危機，乃透過免費化與公共化背後的資金投入和政策論述而得以調節、延續，進而指出無線網路成為當代社會「基礎設施」的多重意義，而其治理失靈的調節又如何可能。

In the face of the financial crisis recently, urban infrastructures used to be managed by the government were de-regulated and privatized through a transformation towards neoliberalism. The scheme of public-private partnership (PPP) was commonly adopted. However, PPP does not guarantee success and urban infrastructures may encounter the crisis of failure. This article discusses the case of municipal wireless internet infrastructure in Taipei, which had been built and operated through PPP in the beginning but was taken over by the city government after its failure. The government then made the wireless internet free for all. This article adopts the regulation theory, arguing that the change of wireless internet service in Taipei from paid to free service should be examined under the context of cross-border competition between cities and local politics. While the change from paid to free wireless service in Taipei seemed to depart from the trend of neoliberalism, it was actually a strategy of regulation aiming to enhance global competition and adapt to the local politics.