This research differentiates counter-public non-parks from public parks to look into the spatial politics and social processes behind the productions of urban parks and open greens in the city of Taipei. The colonial modernity ushered in the concept of public parks in Taipei, though under the authoritarian ruling the meaning of publicness was problematic and the discourse surrounding the public sphere underdeveloped. The process of democratisation in the post-1980s eras activated the grassroots engagement in politics and further nurtured the bottom-up mechanism of counter-publics in a conservation movement and in claiming their rights to the city. The paradigm of counterpublic non-park defied the general definition and used patterns of public parks, and advocated a more socially inclusive and culturally diverse program for the alternative public green. Non-park implies either the unregulated land use patterns that are endured within the zoned parks or the publicly shared open greens that are not officially designated as public parks. It also motivated the transformation of settlement into-park to settlement-park and responded to the call for dynamic urban conservation. This research looks into the coexistence of parks and non-parks in Taipei’s Da-an District, and concludes that the variegated park paradigms are conducive to the development of a more democratic and progressive city that sustains a broader comprehension of public history.