On the island, Taipei is often referred to as a "kingdom of celestial dragon" (天龍國) by the people of other places in Taiwan, meaning it is too advanced a city for them to catch up. 

Actually, that is a narrow vision limited to the close-mindedness of islanders. Please read the report attached below. 

臺北市和南通的差距（1）：住房_風聞 

PS. I just returned from a tour of the Hexi Corridor and the four time-honored cities of Wuwei, Zhangye, Jiuquan, and Dunhuang. Not exaggeratedly, every main street of those desert cities is well-designed and built as beautifully as the Dunghua Road of Taipei, if not as broad.

FYI, they are hardly classified as third-tier cities in the Chinese Mainland.