Why it looks like this

New Taipei City is what happened to Taipei County in 2010: promoted to a special municipality, it became Taiwan's most populous city — without ever having a single centre. Its districts encircle Taipei entirely, from the port of Tamsui in the north to the old coal and gold towns of the hills.

Each district grew up its own valley or shoreline: Banqiao with its high-speed rail hub, Xinzhuang and Sanchong on the floodplains across the Tamsui River from the capital, mining towns like Jiufen clinging to the mountainsides. The 'city' is really a ring of towns holding hands around another city.