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AUICK First 2006 Workshop AUICK held the First 2006 Workshop under the theme of "Population and Environmental Protection in Urban Planning" in Kobe, Japan, from 19 to 30 June 2006, with the support of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the Kobe City Government. AUICK invited nine participants from nine AUICK Associated Cities and three special participants. CONTENTS 1.
BACKGROUND Sustainable Development is defined in the Program of Action (POA), agreed in 1994 at the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD). It states that "sustainable development" is "a means to ensure human well-being, equitably shared by all people today and in the future; requires that the interrelationships between population, resources, the environment and development should be fully recognized, properly managed and brought into harmonious, dynamic balance." The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), adopted at the UN Millennium Summit in 2000, also identifies "Environmental Sustainability" as one of the eight goals, which includes the following three targets: (1) Integrate the principles of sustainable development into country policies and programs and reverse the loss of environmental resources; (2) Halve by 2015 the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water; and (3) By 2020 to have achieved a significant improvement in the lives of at least 100 million slum dwellers. The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), one of AUICK's sponsors, sets "Population and Sustainable Development" as one of its three goals in the 2004-2007 MYFF Strategic Results Framework (SRF), saying "Countries should address interactions between population dynamics, sustainable development, and poverty, including the impact of HIV/AIDS." For sustainable socio-economic development, it is globally recognized that the harmony of economic development and environmental protection is most important, and each nation is making every effort to maintain environmental protection as one of the global priorities. Since the global environment is composed of local environments, environmental protection cannot be achieved globally if it is not also achieved locally. Today, medium-sized cities in Asia are experiencing rapid population growth and socio-economic changes. While the concentration of population in urban areas encourages economic activities and improves living conditions, it also causes deterioration of the environment unless there are effective countermeasures for environmental protection, especially at the local level. From the viewpoint of "Population and Sustainable Development" addressed by UNFPA, this workshop focused on achieving improved knowledge to address the urban policy implications of the links between population processes and environmental problems. The workshop was designed for senior officials of AUICK Associate Cities (AACs) to deepen their understanding and know-how on the theme through presentations, case studies, discussions on current states and challenges their cities face in the fields of industrial liquid waste, industrial and non-industrial solid waste, and greening. The participants also develop concrete action plans for environmental protection to be implemented upon their return to their cities. The workshop was designed for the senior-most officials of the department concerned with enviiroment and sanitation, from nine selected Asian Cities: Chittagong (Bangladesh), Weihai (China), Chennai (India), Surabaya (Indonesia), Kuantan (Malaysia), Faisalabad (Pakistan), Olongapo (Philippines), Khon Kaen (Thailand), and Danang (Vietnam). Countries are listed in alphabetical order. Mr. Kazi Mobassher Ahmed Special Participants:  Tuesday, 20 June Morning Session
Dr. Ando highlighted that the workshop was to introduce the participants to the issues related to interdependent relationship between rapid urban population growth and the environment as well as a number of measures to achieve sustainable development. Accordingly AUICK organized the workshop so that the participants can learn not only the experience of Kobe but also from among themselves especially in the field of solid waste management and greening of the urban areas. He concluded his opening remarks by reiterating his hope that each city would be able to benefit from this workshop in order to formulate and implement appropriate policies on environmental protection for increasing urban population.
Dr. Ness explained about the two major historical waves of population growth and urbanization: that which took place in Europe and America in the past, and that currently taking place in Asia, Africa and Latin America. "He emphasized that the current transitions are occurring very rapidly, in a span of about half a century and they involve billions, not millions, of people. The greater speed and magnitude of the current transitions pose special and very difficult problems. He also pointed out that rapid population growth reduces health and welfare and produces a rapidly growing young population which may spell considerable social unrest for a society if they are not provided schools, jobs, prospect of marrying, etc. He further noted that there is also a second wave in pollution. The urban industrial revolution and population growth produce a great impact on the world's environment. In conclusion, he exhorted that our task at global and local levels is to develop policies that can use the best technologies to improve human welfare. Afternoon Session
Mr. Nagura outlined the chronological development and urban planning of Kobe; including port, land use, arterial road network, and railroad network in relationship to the demographic transition. Then he explained the urban greening projects on which Kobe City has been put much effort in order to preserve its distinguished landscape: the Rokko Mountain range and Seto Inland Sea. He also described the restoration projects from the Great Hanshin Awaji Earthquake of 1995. Mr. Nagura referred to the fact that the Kobe City Government has placed emphasis on the city landscape ordinances which are designed not only to "preserve" nature, but also to "foster" and "create" the beautiful landscape of Kobe. Then, the participants from Danang, Khon Kaen and Olongapo presented their city reports and action plans. (to see the details click here) Wednesday, 21 June Morning Session The participants visited the Kobe City Hall to pay a courtesy call on to Mr. Tatsuo Yada, Mayor of Kobe. Dr. Gayl D. Ness, Dr. Ali Mahmoud Mousa Madibo and Ms. Shahana Chattaraj accompanied the workshop participants. 
Mr. Mitori explained the transition of waste management administration in Kobe City by phase from the beginning in the 1900s to today. Securing public health was the focus of the 1990s as the first phase of the measure taken by Kobe City Government. The City started to manage wastes in order to prevent infectious diseases especially since the first Japanese victim who died from plague was a resident of Kobe. The first incineration plant was built in 1908 which was earlier than other cities in Japan. By 1943 the city was incinerating 93% of wastes. However, during World War II, all the incineration facilities and equipments were totally destroyed in air raids. The City started from the scratch and managed to restart the collection of the wastes in a periodical manner in 1949, after the war. The second phase was from around 1955 to 1970, Japan's period of rapid development after World War II when the whole nation needed to react to the changes in amount and component of waste. The introduction of the "station system" for the waste collection was adopted during this period. The third phase was around from 1971 to 1984, during which, the treatment of industrial wastes became the focus. The Waste Disposal Law was newly introduced in 1971 and its characteristic was that on top of the hygiene problems of the society, pollution problems are also mentioned in order to preserve the environment and clarify the responsibilities of business operators to treat their wastes. Under this law, the waste was separated into "industrial waste" and "non-industrial waste". The fourth phase was from 1985 to 1994, when the mass production, mass consumption, and mass disposal type of lifestyle emerged in Japanese society. Scarcity of the final disposal sites became a problem among big cities. Kobe City issued an ordinance for waste management in 1993 and started the separate collection of cans as the first active effort towards recycling. The fifth phase was from 1995 to 1999, the period that the City of Kobe dealt with the waste generated by the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake of 1995. More than 200,000 houses and buildings were damaged and disposal of debris became an urgent problem. Although the City had large scale landfill sites then, their capacity had only ten years remaining after the disposal of this large volume of debris. By taking up the countermeasures to stop accepting industrial waste at the final disposal site and crushing bulky domestic waste before they are carried to the final disposal sites, the City can now utilizes the final disposal sites for another thirty years. The sixth phase is from 2000 to present. This period focuses on the modern recycling program to deal with global warming and nation-wide scarcity of the final landfill sites in Japan. The concept of "3R", Reduce, Reuse and Recycle is being promoted.
Afternoon Session The participants from Kuantan, Surabaya, Chennai, Weihai and Chittagong presented their city reports and action plans. (to see the details click here)  Thursday, 22 June Morning Session Two best practices of environmental protection in population and urban planning were presented by two resource persons.
Mr. Sun reported that Weihai City has realized that the best way to deal with the solid waste is to emphasize the 3R: reduce, reuse, and recycle. A suitable way to deal with the discharged solid waste for Weihai is by means of the sanitary landfill, which was planned after much research and studying the lessons of other cities. Weihai also set the goals of the solid waste management as follows: (1) Increase public awareness on solid waste; (2) Reform the solid waste collection system; (3) Construct a sanitary landfill site. To achieve the targeted goals, the following initiatives and various programs have been undertaken. They are:
Mr. Sun concluded his presentation by noting that these measures have been successful because now all the citizens, especially the housewives, children and industries in Weihai know the importance of waste management and pay more attention to environmental protection. He also noted that Weihai City still faces major problems and the City will continue to initiate necessary steps to protect the environment for its citizens.
Mr. Karim reported that the city had
set goals for
itself as to be a "Clean and Green City". The specific goals include
the following: Several policy measures, programs and strategies are being adopted to achieve the goals. One of the most unique and successful measures taken by the Chittagong City Corporation (CCC) is the "Shebok" initiative. CCC renamed the low caste sweepers, or cleaning workers, as "Shebok", meaning "Friends who help us in keeping the city clean". This helped the workers to gain the respect of the general public. The "Sheboks" handle the garbage by using tri-wheeler rickshaw vans in the high-density residential areas having narrow lanes where conservancy trucks/vehicles can not enter. These rickshaw vans collect garbage from the community and dump it in the main dustbins which the CCC dump trucks can service. As a consequence, dustbins are being removed from those slum areas and adequate employment opportunity is being generated for the poor. The CCC concept of utilizing cheaper manpower available in the country in an effective but professional manner and the planning to use the same human resources for city cleaning activity has worked with positive results. In most of the residential areas at present, this service is being carried out by the private sector agencies and NGOs; where people are paying for the services. CCC has also initiated steps for fighting against global warming as well as to beautify the urban environment in Chittagong with a large tree planting program. School children are involved to increase their awareness of environmental protection. Now cutting trees is strictly prohibited in the city and if some one wants to cut his/her matured trees he/she has to seek permission from the relevant authority. At the same time, there is a popular slogan - "if you want to cut a single tree, then you have to plant two saplings in the same place". These measures will also help to protect the City from the future natural disasters. Afternoon Session The participants visited three facilities related to waste management controlled by Environment Bureau of the Kobe City Government.
The group watched trucks bringing in a ton of waste each dump it into silos from which great cranes carry it to chutes into the furnaces, where 1000 C flames reduce it to ash. They also watched the burning, controlled by an immaculate control center with videos and gauges.     
This is a large land fill where five ton trucks bring in waste where the Crushing and Sorting Facility crushes the bulky waste and separate the waste into combustible, non-combustible, and recyclable (iron and aluminum) parts. The combustible trash is incinerated in the Clean Center and the recyclable trash is recycled so as to reduce the landfill volume. Scrap metal and aluminium bring in $1 million a year.   The Wastewater Treatment facility treats the leachate generated at the landfill site. The facility was planned in 1974, and completed in 1977. In 1983 aerators, activated carbon absorption equipment, and sand filtration towers were constructed. In 1991 in accordance with the standard of waste water in landfill disposal sites, an extensive refurbishment, including the new construction of an activated carbon absorption tower, was completed for more advanced waste water treatment.   Finally, the participants visited the Resources Recycle Center. The lobby displays a 3R message. The building has a grass roof, reducing the temperature by 2 C. Solar panels and high tech windmills provide all the electricity needed. Glass, plastic bottles and other items are sorted primarily by superb automatic machines, and the rest by hand. Plastic bottles are turned into T shirts. Glass and aluminum are sold to make new bottles and cans. Most importantly, the building is designated as a school room. Primary and secondary school children come for regular classes to learn the benefits of reducing, reusing and sorting waste for recycling. Teaching the young has proven to be a sound strategy for all things: recycling, waste management, even appropriate behaviour for tornado warnings and earthquakes.       Friday, 23 June Morning Session Dr. Shoichi Ando, Coordinator, Disaster Management Planning Hyogo Office, United Nations Centre for Regional Development (UNCRD), made a presentation of "Sustainable Urban Development with Disaster Safety"
Dr. Ando also referred to the future
programs of
UNCRD, such as Housing Earthquake Safety Initiative (HESI) and
Anti-seismic Building Code Dissemination (ABCD) project in Nepal,
Indonesia, Japan, and other seismic countries. He concluded his
presentation by introducing some of Japanese proverbs that teach people
lessons on disaster management: Afternoon Session There was a public forum on "Population, Urban Development and Environment in Asia". The Forum was organized for the citizens of Kobe, jointly by UNFPA Tokyo Office, Kobe City Government, Kobe International Center for Cooperation and Communication (KIC) and AUICK. The Workshop participants served as panelists, and engaged in a lively discussion.(to see the details click here) Saturday, 24 June> Morning Session Dr. Ali Mahmoud Mousa Madibo, Urban Planning Expert, Arab Urban Development Institute (AUDI), made a presentation of "Environmental Issues in the Arab Region and the Activities of AUDI".
He explained that the scarcity of water resources in the region is now a serious problem and the population increase exacerbates the problem. The situation is further complicated by the different regulations and legislations at national and local levels. In general, a third of the region's population does not have access to safe drinking water. It is even worse in the sanitation sector. From 60 to 80 percent of the population in the region uses unhygienic methods of human waste disposal. He referred to the several local regulations which need to be introduced to tackle water issues at local level. And he also introduced AUDI's assistance to promote them, such as conducting workshops on specialized water utilities, helping in commissioning regional consultants to carry out specific studies, and providing information with regard to regional consultants and international institutions. Dr. Madibo concluded his presentation with expressing his expectation to share AUDI's experiences with the Asian region, starting the collaborative work with AUICK and AACs since many of the measures in city planning can be applicable not only with neighboring towns and regions within a country but also with neighboring countries and continents. Dr. Madibo's visit was the first contact between AUICK and one of the other regional urban research institutes. The Secretariat wishes that it will bring more collaboration with AUDI and with other institutions in the future. After the session of Dr. Madibo, the participant from Faisalabad presented his city report and action plan. (to see the details click here) Afternoon Session The afternoon session was set aside for the preparation of the action plans. Dr. Ness, the Resource Person for the workshop, assisted the participants in producing their action plans incorporating some of the valuable information and experiences they learned from the workshop.
Sunday, 25 June The workshop participants flew out of Kobe airport, which opened a route to Kagoshima on 16 February 2006 . Upon arrival at Kagoshima Airport, the participants were received by Mr. Toshio Yoshinaga, Managing Director of NPO Minamata Education Tour Planning, who works with Minamata City on introducing its history and lessons learned from its man-made tragedy. He described the City during a one and half hour bus ride through narrow country roads to Minamata, the city that gave the name to the dread mercury poisoning disease.
It was not easy to develop a response to the disease. An American Life photographer dramatized the plight of the people and the city gained worldwide recognition. The photographer was beaten, and partially paralyzed by the company's goons. The 1960s was also Japan's decade of development, with the aim of doubling per capita GNP in ten years (Japan actually went far beyond this), again muffling any concerns of environmental pollution. The company denied responsibility and even found scientists to back its claims that the bay's waters were clean. Moreover, and tragically, the local victims were twice victimized. Before full disclosure and recognition of the disease, local sufferers were outcaste in their community, further reducing pressure for a remedy. But there finally was some local pressure, aided by newspapers and activists from other parts of Japan. In the 1960s there were sit-ins in Tokyo government offices. In 1972 Japan created an Environmental Protection Agency. Ultimately by the mid 1970s the disease was fully recognized; the plant was forced to stop its mercury discharge and the prefectural government began the cleanup. Today, vast amounts of contaminated sludge have been dredged from the bay, enclosed behind a seawall and covered by clean soil from the mountains, providing new reclaimed land for the city. The landscape is steep forest-covered mountains with narrow valleys terraced for wet rice cultivation and tiny villages and towns.  Near Minamata, the group stopped at the Fukuda winery for lunch. Here the group found a set of Spanish style buildings. The place is also known for extensive recycling. Old roof tiles are broken to make floors and faces for pillars. Nothing is thrown away; everything is reused in some for or another. Wine is made from grapes, cherries, and other fruits. The participants roamed around, happy to be out of the plane and bus for a bit. In the afternoon, the group members stopped by at the riverside reclaimed land which used be the contaminants precipitation pool and now contains the company housing of the Chisso Company.   The group also visited the infamous Hyakken drainage outlet, the originating point of Minamata Disease, through which the company's mercury along with waste water was discharged into the bay. It is said that a total of 70 -150 tons of mercury was discharged into Minamata Bay, resulting in an accumulation of mercury-containing sludge that reached up to four meters thick around the Hyakken drainage outlet. 
 Then the participants visited The Minamata Disease Municipal Museum and archives to learn more about the disease. The museum was established in order to keep the precious data of the disease as well as to tell the people of the fear of the disease and the hard experience of the pain and discrimination that the patients have been gone through. The group walked along a new sea wall on reclaimed land. In order to remove the sludge safely and quickly, the prefectural government implemented the pollution prevention project from 1977. It was to remove about 1.5 million cubic meters of sludge. The area covered approximately 2 million square meters in Minamata bay. In the construction, the sludge in the dredging area was pumped to the reclaimed land area to be filled and sealed by synthetic fiber sheets. High quality soil taken from the mountains was spread over the sheets to level the land. The project was completed in 1990, and 58 hectares of land was reclaimed. The project took about 14 years with the enormous cost of 48.5 billion yen (US$359 million). 
Before going to the hotel, the group stopped by at the little fishing village, heavily-damaged area at the time.   Monday, 26 June
In each of the 26 wards (each of about 1,000 people), there is a recycling collection point, open from 7-8 AM one day a month. The people bring in bottles, paper, plastic, aluminum and iron cans to separate into different bins. There are six categories of glass and three of paper among the 22 categories of waste. With such care, its glass brings a premium price from the local recycle industries that are located in the town. This alone brings the town about US$70,000 a year, which goes back to the local wards to use as they see fit. Kitchen wastes are collected in 15 yen (about 15 cents) biodegradable plastic bags, paid for by the citizens. The waste goes to a local compost factory that turns it into commercial fertilizer. The total annual waste amounts to 5,000 tons of burnable, 2,000 tons of recyclable, 1500 tons of compostable and about 1500 tons for the landfill. The roughly 10,000 tons amounts to about 330 kilograms per person per year.  
 
 Mr. Takuya Ogata and Mr. Hironori Matsushita, administrators of Environmental Planning Section, Environment Division, Welfare and Environment Bureau, Minamata City Government introduced the environmental administration of Minamata City".
Through out their presentation, Mr. Ogata and Mr. Matsushita emphasized that the distressing disease experience has led the city to undertake a vast environmental protection program that includes the very detailed waste separation and recycling program. After the valuable presentations from three administrators of Minamata City, the group visited The National Institute for Minamata Disease, which coordinates a world wide program of basic medical, clinical, and epidemiological research. 
The participants flew back to Kobe in the evening. Tuesday, 27 June Morning Session
Mr. Tanaka outlined the chronological greening efforts that the City has taken and explained their achievements for creating a beautiful city with many green areas. The City started The Green Kobe Project in 1971 aiming; a) to preserve 70 percent of the city area as greenery; b) to increase the greenery up to 30 percent of the urban area; and c) to plant one million trees per year. One of the major activities of the project was greening of the urban area, mountains, housing complexes and coastal districts. The city has achieved its goals so far and subsequently it introduced The Green Kobe 21 Plan which has a longer vision on the target. Mr. Tanaka emphasized that the participation of the citizens is very active now and it helps to create, foster and nurture the beautiful City, Kobe.  
Mr. Takahashi explained the protection and role of the greenery focusing on the Rokko Mountains. He mentioned that at the beginning of Meiji era (1868-1912), the Rokko Mountains were almost barren of trees. Now it is difficult to believe that just over 100 years ago they were completely bare and that white, weathered limestone that eroded and produced flash floods. In 1903 tree planting began and by 1930 the mountains were much as they appear today, completely covered with trees and bushes.   Now the greenery of Rokko Mountains plays an extraordinary role in the followings:
The Arboretum was built partially on top of an old landfill in 1940 and the group was able to observe such evidence of that fact as exhaust openings for gas from the waste under the soil, land subsidence and different soil layers. However, the ordinary visitors do not recognize them, since the plants and trees are so well maintained and hide them discretely. In addition, the discharged waste water is properly taken care of.  The site was full of people since hydrangeas, Kobe's city flower, were in bloom. Along the trails the participants were greeted by many local people who were photographing, painting and just strolling and enjoying the color. The city had made the mountains into a truly fine outdoor place of enjoyment for all citizens. 
The participants found a pleasant park of 8,000 square meters in a densely built neighborhood with apartments. The area was extensively damaged by the 1995 earthquake, essentially destroying all buildings. The City government suddenly came up with a master reconstruction plan that included a number of parks. These were the areas designed precisely for disaster refugees to be accommodated in the event of an earthquake, where temporary shelters and utilities could be quickly mobilized. But it was also a neighborhood of people who talked with one another and formed something of a real community. Though many were displaced and scattered, they heard about the City government plans and quickly mobilized themselves. "You are not going to plan this at city hall alone," they said and demanded government listen to them. To its credit the City government did precisely that. Now the neighborhood committee manages the park that it helped to design and build it. It gets an annual grant of about $10,000, runs a lovely community center, rents out the hall for weddings, plants flowers in the park and generally manages things.   Benches in the park can be utilized as toilets by removing the top panels and setting the partitions around in an emergency The group then drove around town observing the greenery. In the past 40 years Kobe has planted hundreds of thousands of trees along all roads. The medians of roads are planted with flowers. Street corners and wide sidewalks sport planters filled with flowers and greenery. Most of the planters and trees are cared for, watered and fed, by local volunteer groups.    All the participants were impressed by the greenery of this urban area. Heavy urban traffic moves briskly. Trucks from the massive port facility are diverted away from the center by major elevated east-west freeways that make commercial traffic flow swiftly and efficiently. Busses and cars, with a few trucks and vans roll along city streets beside greenery and flowers. The wide sidewalks accommodated pedestrians and bicycles, with parking for bikes and motor scooters. Even the corner police station is decked out in flowers. Dr. Ness noted that "Kobe is a busy, productive, healthy, and very beautiful city. This is what a city can be given leadership, favorable economic conditions and a deeply industrious people with a rich ascetic sense!" Wednesday, 28 June Morning Session The morning session was assigned to the action plan working hours for the participants' final presentation. Afternoon Session A whole afternoon was devoted to the presentation of the final action plans. Dr. Hirofumi Ando and Dr. Gayl D. Ness facilitated the session.(to see the details click here)  Thursday, 29 June To sum up this workshop, the participants had a meeting for review and evaluation of the workshop. The participants exchanged their views and opinions frankly about the workshop. Then the closing ceremony was held. Mr. Kazutoshi Sasayama, Special Advisor of AUICK and Former Mayor of Kobe, honored their achievements during the workshop and handed a certificate to each of them. One of the useful suggestions from the review session was to form a network through e-mail among the participants so as to continue the exchange of information and experiences, especially with regards to the progress being made in the work plan. After the official closure of the workshop program, Mr. Sasayama hosted dinner for the participants. The workshop program was highly regarded by all the participants. They noted it had very good mix of classroom sessions, field visits, an exchange of experiences and an opportunity for the participants to reflect on the environment situation in their own cities and where and how improvements can be brought about. Most of the program components received very positive evaluation from all the participants. In particular, they were greatly impressed with the presentations of the Best Practices in Weihai (China) and Chittagong (Bangladesh), since they were well presented and gave the participants first hand experiences to tackle with the environmental issues. Through the visits to the municipal environment facilities, they learned the importance of popular participation and increasing citizen's awareness in order to preserve natural resources. They also learned it is an arduous task for the city administrator, but it is a strategy that pays large dividends. They also learned that how important it is to manage the waste treatment properly as well as preserving the environment by their site visits and interaction they had with Kobe city administrators. The participants were also fascinated by their visit to Minamata City and learning of its tragic history of mercury contamination caused by the single company. It was a dramatic and eye opening experience and some of the facts shown there may have been hard to acknowledge. However, knowing about what happened there motivated all the participants to work for the protection of their cities by applying what they learned to environmental protection. The discussion with the Kobe citizens at the Open Forum, UNFPA Seminar, also stimulated the participants further to tackle problems they are facing in achieving the goal of environmental protection in urban planning. AUICK's new guideline on the preparation of the action plan development is still evolving. Most of the participants submitted ready-made action plans since a rather detailed note on the action plan had been given prior to the workshop. They should have been provided with some general suggestions on the action plan and advised to bring the basic groundwork information before arrival in Kobe. They should also have been informed that the action plan should be finalized at the end of the workshop incorporating some of the information and experiences they learn from the workshop. As a whole, all the participants were gratified that the workshop gave them full opportunity to increase their understanding of the population and environmental protection in urban planning, through the lessons, especially the hard experiences, shared by the experts and administrators in Kobe and Minamata City. As Kobe City started to manage waste treatment after the first plague victim in Japan was found in Kobe, and as the distressing disease experience has led Minamata City to undertake a vast environmental protection program, the status of human welfare is characterized by a dynamic balance of interactions between natural and man-made forces. And no matter how great an amount of money or effort is spent, it is often impossible to return a once-polluted and all but destroyed environment to its original state. This workshop was especially successful in that it emphasized the importance of developing appropriate and timely policies for contributing to the improvement of welfare of the people not only in their cities, but in the world as a whole.  |
The
workshop began with
opening remarks by Dr. Hirofumi Ando, President of
AUICK. He
welcomed the participants to the City of Kobe, including Dr. Ali
Mahmoud Mousa Mabido of Arab Urban Development Institute (AUDI) and
introduced the aims and program of the workshop to them. 
Following
the opening ceremony, the
first
presentation, "Two Waves of Population Growth and Urbanization" was
given by 
Shigeharu
Nagura,
Urban Planning Division, Planning Department, Urban Planning and
Housing Bureau, Kobe City Government, delivered a presentation by the
title of "Population/Urban Development and Urban Planning of Kobe City."
After
the courtesy call, the morning
session began
with a presentation, "Environment Protection Administration of Kobe
City," by Mr. Takashi Mitori, Deputy Director
General,
Environment Bureau, Kobe City Government."
Mr.
Mitori concluded his presentation by referring
to the efforts to increase peoples' awareness on the separation of the
waste and familiarize them on "4 Classification and 6 Separation of the
waste" currently implemented by the City. The most important thing to
achieve waste reduction is to increase the individual's awareness and
activate community participation.
Mr.
Pingyi Sun, Vice Director of Weihai Environment Protection
Agency, China, presented the best practice in Weihai. 
Mr.
A. K. M. Rezaul Karim,
City Planner and Head, Department of Architecture and City Planning,
Chittagong City Corporation (CCC), Bangladesh, made a presentation on
the best practices in Chittagong.
First,
the group visited an incineration called Ochiai Clean Center
where Mr. Susumu Matsuo,
Deputy Director of Ochiai Clean Center, Environment Bureau, Kobe City
Government, provided an overview of the center. The lot area is 38,550
square meters and the structure of the building is steal-frame steam
reinforced concrete. The incinerator is a Kawasaki-VKW Type Rotary Fire
Grate Incinerator with a capacity of 450 tons per day (150 tons per day
by three fire pits each.) The facility was established in 1979. The
city has five incinerators that turn garbage into ash with no odor or
noxious gasses. Special attention is paid to preventing pollution.
Subsequently,
the group visited a final disposal site of domestic waste, Fusehata
Environment Center. Mr. Mitsuhiro Yanagiwasa,
Director, and Mr. Hiromichi Ueda, Assistant Manager
of the center, guided the facility.
Dr.
Ando outlined the urban planning system and the environment in Japan.
Then he explained the objectives and activities of UNCRD whose major
goal is "Sustainable Regional Development" with sub-goals; Economic
Development, Environmental Conservation and Human Settlement
Development. The UNCRD Hyogo Office aims to enhance the capacity of
local people and governments with various partners, to make communities
safer. One of its major roles includes disaster reduction and
development to enhance Community-Based Disaster Management (CBDM) to
apply risk management solutions. Dr. Ando illustrated the importance of
CBDM with the experience of the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake. He
said, "Local people are potential victims and assume responsibility in
managing the risk" and "Local people respond first and remain last to
rebuild safer communities." To promote CBDM, UNCRD encourages the
activities as follows: 
Dr.
Madibo outlined the objectives and activities of AUDI and argued that
the current status of environment is characterized by a dynamic balance
of interactions between several components, i.e. natural, and man-made.
Therefore any change in one can cause profound impact to the whole
system. Also, populations living in the same geographical area, but
having different socio-economic conditions need to be made aware that
the development in their own land has to be through a joint effort with
their neighbors.
At
the end of the day, the
participants were
treated to a little surprise, cakes prepared by the Secretariat, to
celebrate the birthday of Mr. Thotsaphon Wong-Asa, a participant from
Khon Kaen, Thailand, who turned to be 32 years old. 
In
1956 a new disease, mercury poisoning, was diagnosed in the small
fishing village of Minamata, Japan. For more than two decades a
chemical plant of the Chisso Company was discharging wastes, including
untreated mercury, directly into the bay. Fishermen in the 1930s knew
that something was wrong in the waters and fish, but their voices were
not heard. In the 1950s there appeared some unusual signs. Cats
exhibited a strange, disoriented behavior and died. Then people began
to suffer strange nervous disorders: shaking, severe headaches,
difficult walking, and finally deaths. A medical doctor at the
company's hospital developed the specific diagnosis in 1956, showing
that mercury was attacking the central nervous system and causing this
illness. The city gave its name to the illness Minamata Disease.
There
is a memorial monument for the Minamata disease victims on the edge of
the reclaimed land. The total estimates are more than 17,000, though
the government figure is 12,890. People can apply for certification and
some compensation, but the wheels of the bureaucracy grind slowly and
many have died before being officially recognized. The memorial
contains names of victims, registered voluntarily by victims and family
members. There are less than 400 names in the shrine; a stigma attached
to the disease makes many reluctant to admit having the disease. At the
memorial site, one can sound the gong and send a prayer for the victims.
The
participants visited Minamata Clean Center where
the city undertakes the detailed waste separation and recycling
program. Mr. Fumiaki Arimura,
Deputy Director of the Clean Center, Minamata City Government, outlined
the separation and collection system in Minamata City and guided us in
the Center.
Mr.
Ogata and Mr. Matsushita explained that the City of Minamata is now a
small village with, 30,000 persons, with not a very bright future. Half
century ago it had 50,000 people with nearly 40 percent of the
population below 14 years; only 5 percent above 65. Today the young are
only 15 percent and the elderly 26 percent and growing. But the
disease, the land reclamation and the loss of polluting industry have
done something else to the town. In addition to receiving visitors for
its infamous disease, Minamata has pushed itself tenaciously into
environmental protection and recycling.
At
the Institute, they learned that mercury in the sea enters the bodies
of fish in the form of methyl mercury. When people eat the fish the
methyl mercury combines with a cysteine to become
cysteine-methylmercury, which can pass through the blood/brain barrier
or the blood-placenta barrier to enter the central nervous system of
adults and fetuses and cause irreparable damage. The normal mercury
level in Japanese women is 1.6 ppm; in men it is 2.5 ppm. It becomes
dangerous at levels over 11 ppm. Those levels can be tested from hair
samples.
The
participants took the last field
trip to see
Kobe's greening efforts. A bus took the group up hairpin curves into
the Rokko Mountains that lie behind the city, reaching up to about 1500
meters. At the meeting room of the Forestry Management Office, Mr.
Mitsuru Tanaka,
Manager, Planning Division, Parks, Greenery and Landslide Prevention
Department, Public Construction Projects Bureau, Kobe City Government,
made a presentation, "To Create Flower and Green City Kobe". He also
guided the group throughout the day.
Then,
Mr. Keizo Takahashi,
Director of Forestry Management Office, Parks, Greenery and Landslide
Prevention Department, Public Construction Projects Bureau, Kobe City
Government, made a presentation, "Beautiful Green Mountains and its
Utilization".
After
the lunch break by a pond in the Rokko Mountains, the group moved to
the Kobe Municipal Arboretum. Mr. Kazuo Ichino,
Director of the Arboretum and, Mr. Mitsuru Murao,
technical staff, outlined the site and guided its facility.
After
some enjoyable moments full of flowers, Mr Tanaka continued guiding us
back into the heart of town, to a small neighborhood park, Rokkomichi
Kita Park. Ms. Atsuko Sato, Representative of the Managing
organization of the parks in the area, met and gave the group an
explanation on the park.