politics is an important factor. but even with that factor, i think there is a number of international events taipei can bid for other than the summer olympics. the world games that kaoshiong is hosting, and the Universiade it was attempting to bid are two examples. the special olympics is another one. the reason our new stadium has a small capacity is probably because the deaflympics doesn't attract many people (kaoshiong's stadium, on other hand, has a bigger capacity, and it looks amazing!).
while a lack of popularity of track and field in taiwan offers an economic reason, it seems to lack foresight, which is also shown in other stalled infrastructure projects on the island (such as projects that will help the east coast or mass trasit systems in cities other than taipei and kaoshiong). we are always catching up with demand rather than acticiapting and generating it. there are things we can do to bring traffic and consumption to the countryside, and there are also things we can do to stimulate sports that taiwanese are not watching now or/and are not good at.
i don't wanna sound like i'm arguing, cuz i'm not. i totally agree that conservative economic planning is a valid option for urban planning. i'm just hoping there will be more pro-active (sometimes risk-taking) measures taken by the gov. in some development. maybe i'm just bitching cuz i wanna see more skyscrapers and bigger (AND better looking) stadium