近年來，社會設計在臺灣之討論與實踐不斷地勃發迸現。自1987年解嚴迄今，因著民主化之進程不斷地衍展，公民自主意識更是隨著民主的開放而逐漸抬頭，民眾對於生活周遭之社會議題與政府相關政策之擬定，開始有更多的涉入、參與與要求。另一方面，隨著臺灣資通訊產業之蓬勃發展，網路、社群與媒體形成了一種快速連結的管道，使民眾的聲音、想法、議題等討論在公眾平臺裡得以凝聚，形成一股不容忽視的力量。社會設計因著民主遞嬗之進展、公民意識的抬頭、社群網絡，以及平臺等串連，得以迸發出一種嶄新的風貌，讓設計的力量得以介質進入臺灣社會與文化中，並且透過社會設計之核心思考：以人為中心（Human-Centered）之設計思維，逐步進入臺灣產官學與地方各樣政策發展中。
2018年5月21日行政院召開「地方創生會報」，正式將2019年定為「臺灣地方創生元年」，臺灣長期以來城鄉發展失衡，加之面臨高齡少子化等衝擊，如何重新探掘地方文化、活絡在地產業、培植在地人才、吸納青年返鄉與創造地方產業發展等建設成了地方首要之務。
研究發端是希冀透過社會設計在臺灣之發展與其核心價值之介質引動探索，欲以瞭解地方創生之於在地文化、社群與環境之式微中，能否成為開創地方永續經營之創新發展？另，於在地議題之點上，設計力是如何穿針引線，俾以勾勒出地方創生未來願景之面？綜上所思，起而擬聚所想，欲以探知：（1）社會設計之脈絡、特質與在臺灣之衍展；（2）日本與臺灣地方創生之行動及政策之執行；（3）社會設計之思維與觀點，及其構築於在地方發展之實踐；（4）地方創生發展中，運用社會設計之思維與方法，所帶動之社會創新與社會影響力。
本研究以個案研究法、訪談法，爰以Wassily Kandinsky「點線面」（PLP）之觀點，探掘臺南仕安社區「合作共老」創生模式與「三鶯．宴」創生計畫，將二個案之在地議題視為「點」，並運用文獻梳理探知社會設計力介入地方營造之六大共鳴點，引之為「線」，且將二個案所帶動之社會創新與社會影響力勾勒為「面」，續之以比較研究法，佐以文獻、訪談資料等進行剖析。最後綜研歸納四項結論與建議：（1）喚起國人對於在地議題意識之覺醒；（2）培育地方創生人才之能量：產官學研社齊動員；（3）實踐設計力是根植於文化新崛勃興之動力；（4）構築地方永續發展與社會創新、社會影響力之願景。
冀盼透過此研究，能將臺灣地方創生之發展與實踐，揭櫫引動更多人參與，而以社會設計之底蘊介質臺灣地方創生之實踐，相信小眾也可以成為大力量。

The concept of social design has been widely discussed and practiced in Taiwan in recent years. Since the lifting of the martial law in 1987, Taiwan has become increasingly democratic, and its citizens have become increasingly “democratically conscious.” They began to participate in, become more involved with, and issue requests for social issues and the formulation of relevant government policies. Concurrently, the booming development of Taiwan’s information and communications industry has popularized the Internet, social networking sites, and media, which serve as channels and public platforms that enable the rapid dissemination of information and the public to voice their opinions and discuss about issues. The public is thus able to unite its power and form an undeniable force. The combination of Taiwan being increasingly democratic, its citizens being increasingly “democratically conscious,” and the growing popularity of the social networking sites and social platforms has transformed social design, allowing it to be incorporated into the Taiwanese society and culture. In addition, human-centered social design thinking can be integrated into the policies developed by Taiwan’s professional, government, academic, and local sectors.
On May 21, 2018, the Executive Yuan convened the Local Revitalization meeting, officially designating 2019 as the first year of Taiwan’s Local revitalization. For years, Taiwan has experienced the problems of sub-replacement fertility and a gap between urban and rural development. Therefore, identifying methods to promote local culture, revitalize local industries, cultivate local talents, and attract young people to return home to work have become the number one priority of local governments.
This study explored social design development in Taiwan and the core value of said development to determine whether the introduction of Local revitalization to declining local culture, social networking sites, and social environment can facilitate sustainable local development. In addition, concerning local issues, this study investigated how social design promoted future local revitalization. The goal was to gain insight into the following topics: (a) the context and characteristics of social design and its development in Taiwan; (b) local revitalization policies and their implementation in Japan and Taiwan; (c) social design thinking and perspectives and the use of social design in regional development; and (d) social design thinking and methods adopted in local revitalization to facilitate social innovation and influence the society.
In this study, the case study method, interview method, and “point and line to plane” perspective introduced by Wassily Kandinsky were adopted to investigate the revitalization model (called “aging together and collaboratively”) implemented by the Shi’an Community in Tainan as well as a revitalization project titled “Sanxia & Yingge Placemaking.” The local issues addressed by the aforementioned model and project were designated as “points”; the six common effects of social design on local constructions (obtained from a literature review) were designated as “lines”; and the social influence of the model and project and how they facilitated social innovation were designated as “planes.” Literature was reviewed and interview data were analyzed to derive the following four conclusions and recommendations: (a) raise people’s awareness of local issues; (b) have the professional, government, academic, research, and community sectors work together to develop the ability of people engaged in local revitalization; (c) discover and promote culture to inspire design; and (d) achieve the goals of sustainable local development, social innovation, and social impact.