嘉義縣市合併之可行性研究

Abstract

臺灣地方自治發展史近十多年來最大之變革，莫過於2010年12月25日臺北縣、臺中縣市、臺南縣市、高雄縣市改制為直轄市，再加上桃園縣於2014年12月25日亦改制為直轄市後，我國行政區劃從此便劃分為6直轄市、3省轄市及13縣，展開「6都16縣（市）」時代。 由於自從上述變革後，我國僅留3省轄市，探究其人口數量不多，再加上1998年臺灣省虛級化後，省轄市與縣同隸屬於內政部，爰近年來有關省轄市去留之議題甚囂塵上，其中以基隆市納入雙北、新竹縣市合併及嘉義縣市合併之討論最多，而以基隆市與新竹市合併為主題之論文研究皆有2本，惟迄今仍沒有嘉義縣市合併之相關探討論文。 嘉義市於1982年恢復改制為省轄市後，關於嘉義縣市合併之倡議迭有所聞，更分別於1999年、2009年、2012年、2017年及2019年所引發之事件引起地方熱議，更數度驚動中央，並造成政壇不小之騷動。 本研究採取文獻分析法與半結構式深度訪談法作為研究方法，試圖探討嘉義縣市如若進行合併所可能產生之正面效益與負面影響，以及合併過程中所可能產生之阻礙，同時予以研析調整「行政區劃」與進行「縣市合併」之相關法令依據，並綜整嘉義縣市過往合作之案例，作為將來跨域合作之參考。

The most drastic development with respect to Taiwan’s local governance during the past ten years was the transforming of numerous county-city bodies (townships) into municipalities (districts). The restructuring of Taipei County, Taichung County and City, Tainan County and City, and Kaohsiung County and City into municipalities occurred on December 25th, 2010, while Taoyuan County was reorganized into Taoyuan City on December 25th, 2014. As a result, the nation’s local governing bodies are currently subdivided into 6 municipalities, 3 provincial cities, and 13 counties. This is known as the era of '6 municipalities and 16 counties /cities'. One aftereffect of the reform was the administrative reassignments of the three remaining provincial cities due to lower populations and the virtualization of the Taiwan Province in 1998. On an administrative level, a provincial city is now managed under the Ministry of the Interior, along with county-level governments. In recent years, the phasing out of provincial cities have become popular topics among political discussion, with proposed merging of Keelung City into the Greater Taipei Municipalities and the restructuring of both Hsinchu and Chiayi county-city bodies into singular administrative bodies. In terms of related academic research, there have been two published papers each on subjects of Keelung City and Hsinchu City while none were written about Chiayi County and City. After the restoration of Chiayi City into a provincial city in 1982, the reforming of Chiayi County and City has been an ongoing political issue. Incidents surrounding the topic in 1999, 2009, 2012, 2017 and 2019 have sparked heated discussions among locals, causing ripples effects all the way to the central government. This study attempts to explore the effects of merging Chiayi City and Chiayi County into a county-administered city, as well as potential obstacles along the process. By adopting literature analysis and semi-structured in-depth interviews as primary research methods, a set of 'Administrative Division' adjustments in accordance with relevant laws and ordinances of 'County and City Merger' are proposed. Furthermore, by taking past collaborations into account, this study hopes to serve as a plausible template for future cross-domain cooperation between Chiayi County and City.