This Act is enacted for the purpose of improving the living environment of residents, and promoting a planned and balancing development in city, township, and rural settlement.

All urban plans shall be formulated in accordance with the provisions of the law. Where no provision is prescribed herein, provisions in other law shall be applicable.

An urban plan as referred to herein shall refer to a planned development for significant facilities concerning urban living such as economic activities, communications, sanitation, public security, national defense, culture, education, recreation and so on within a definite area and to a rational planning for land use therein.

The competent authority for enforcing this Act shall be the Ministry of the Interior at the central level, the municipal governments at the special municipality level, and the county/city governments at the county/city level.

The urban plan shall be formulated on the basis of their present and past conditions and of an anticipated 25-year development.

Governments of the Special municipality and the county/city may restrict use of land in areas covered in urban planning area that hinders the enforcement of the urban.

The terms applied in this Act are defined as follows:
(1) Master plan: referring to the master-plan specifications and master-plan map established in accordance with Article 15 to set the guidelines for the formulation of detailed plans.
(2) Detail plan: referring to the detail-plan specifications and detail-plan map established in accordance with Article 22 to guide the enforcement of the corresponding urban plan.
(3) The implementation plan: according to this Act, referring to the plan of the physical construction of public facilities, new urban development, and renewal of old area.
(4) Preferential development area: referring to areas given priority for planning, construction and development within ten years.
(5) New urban development: referring to areas where there are few buildings and no urban plan has been implemented.
(6) Old area renewal: referring to dismantling, reconstruction, renovation or special maintenance of buildings in areas where concentrations, disorderliness and dilapidation of old buildings are concentrated, disorderly, and dilapidated have become blemishes on the appearance of the city, township, or local area as well as threats to public safety.

Formulation and modification of urban plans shall be conducted in accordance with the procedure set forth in this Act.