The United Nations Population Fund began thinking about the problems of urbanization and rapid population growth in the late 1970s, stimulated by the visionary thinking of Rafael Salas (the founder and first Executive Secretary of UNFPA). He recognized that rapid urbanization was occurring in all the developing countries, and that this constituted a major aspect of the world's "population problem." Since UNFPA's aim is to raise awareness of population problems and assist member governments to address those problems, the Fund began a series of activities designed to raise awareness of the problems of urbanization and work toward solutions of those problems. Mr. Salas also recognized that the first step would require going directly to the urban leaders themselves, the Mayors and Administrators who are responsible for shaping the urban processes. These front line workers would be in the best position to identify both the problems and their possible solutions. Going to the urban leaders implied a series of international conferences that would bring together urban leaders. But in the UNFPA vision, the conferences were not to be ends in themselves. The hope was that a conference would lead to some sustained institutional activity to deal with urban population problems.

The first of the major international conferences was held in Rome in 1980. Mayors or heads of some 60 of the world's largest cities came together to identify problems and seek solutions. These large cities represent one of the most dramatic aspects of modern urban growth, the emergence of megacities of tens of millions of inhabitants. Over the next few decades the world will see the emergence of scores of these megacities in every part of the globe. They represent a special set of problems largely because of their great size and rapid growth. A second major international conference of megacities was held in Barcelona, Spain, in 1986. Following this, an international organization for megacity studies was established, with its headquarters in Barcelona.

But the massive megacities are not the only urban systems that experience special problems. UNFPA staff also identified the world "medium-sized" cities are major arena that need attention. To deal with this arena, the Fund organized two regional conferences, one in Kobe in 1987 to deal with Asia, and one in Mexico City in 1988, to deal with Latin America.

A meeting of mayors of 60 of the world's largest cities was held in Rome in 1980. The next step was a meeting of mayors from megacities in Barcelona, in 1986. Following this, parallel meetings were held on medium sized cities in Asia (Kobe, 1987) and in Latin America (Mexico City, 1987). The plan was that each of these major meetings should be followed by the establishment of some kind of organization to promote continued research and action programmes in these regions. It is much to the credit of the Kobe City government that this was the only conference that was actually followed by a sustained organizational activity, in this case, AUICK.

With these considerations and movements, UNFPA entered into a cooperative effort with the City of Kobe and with Nihon University's Population Research Institute. The result was a planned conference on medium-sized cities, which was convened in Kobe in August 1987. In line with basic UNFPA policy, it was decided that the participants should include not only experts and national level leaders, but the mayors and urban administrators themselves. These were considered the front lines of the effort to address urban problems. They also included people of great local experience who seldom have the opportunity to speak or be heard in international conferences. Thus the Kobe conference was distinguished by the presence of these urban administrators. From 11 Asian countries, Mayors and administrators from the medium-sized cities formed the core of the participants. Their experiences informed the conference. As the Conference report notes:

"This (inclusion of leaders themselves) provided the Conference with the direct experience of people who live and work in, and are responsible for the management of medium sized cities. The rich experience of these local leaders added a high degree of practical realism to the discussions. (p 8)

Neglect. In both national and urban planning, medium-sized cities tend to be neglected. Drawing attention to these cities, to the important roles they can and do play in national development, and identifying specific suggestions to promote more effective planning for this type of city thus remains an important aim. (p 12)

Overcentralization. National and municipal authorities are often at odds particularly with regard to taxation policies and the sharing of revenues. There is a need to develop strategies to devolve authority to local bodies so that cities might enjoy a greater degree of local autonomy. (p 17)

Administrative capacity. A major constraint on the development and effective management of medium-sized cities is often the absence of adequate administrative capacities. This includes the shortage of qualified personnel resources, which is in part due to the absorption of trained human resources by the mega-cities. The conference recommended that attention be paid to developing appropriate training programs in urban administration based on the expertise and experience available within the region. (p 17)

The conference further recommended the formation of networks among Asian countries to facilitate the exchange of information and experience on a continuing basis for the management of medium-sized cities. (p 17)<

greater attention to medium sized-cities in overall urban and development planning;

greater attention to collecting and disseminating information on urban problems and their solutions;

creation of a sustained network of Asian urban administrators to permit them to learn from and assist one another; and

greater emphasis on training urban administrators.

Definitions of Medium-Size The definition of medium-size for cities was recognized as a persistent problem. In some cases, a size between 1 and 4 million will provide an adequate size classification. In smaller countries, however, the identifying condition is less that of size than of the function of providing the link between rural areas and small towns on the one hand and the great mega-cities on the other. The functional classification was considered more useful than a rigid application of size categories.

Kobe and AUICK: a unique success Four international conferences were convened by UNFPA in the 1980s to raise awareness of and attempt to address the problems of population and urbanization. Each conference was to be followed by the creation of a sustained institutional activity to deal with the population-urbanization link. Only in Kobe was this plan fully realized, through the creation and sustained work of the Asian Information Center of Kobe.