Taiwan’s social housing has concentrated on the physical provision of housing and pays little attention to questions of social inclusion in neighbourhoods. However, placemaking practices in other countries have triggered a flurry of experimentation in social housing in Taipei. We evaluate the performance of placemaking efforts aimed at enhancing tenant participation in social housing management. The rapid and selective transfer of social housing policy approaches from the West has led to problems in implementation and management. However, we found that community placemaking involving planners as facilitators fostering partnerships significantly enhances tenant participation in the provision and management of social housing.