This survey, conducted under the auspices of The Asian Urban Information Center of Kobe (AUICK), is the fifth in a series of studies examining the urban conditions of medium-sized cities in Asia. AUICK was established in 1989 in cooperation with the United Nations Population Fund. AUICK was founded to aid in the development of Asian cities by collecting and collating information through surveys and studies of the common problems facing cities throughout Asia. AUICK continues to strive toward this goal.

The first report in this series was the Report on the Asian Urban Enquiry 1989-1990. This report detailed the responses received from questionnaires sent to 270 cities in 11 countries. Of the questionnaires sent out, replies were obtained from 128 cities in eight countries. The analysis of these replies indicated rapid growth in the respondent cities, causing a broad range of urban problems. It was also found that these cities were seeking technical information regarding infrastructure.

The second report, and the first in-depth report planned for the years between the Urban Inquiry, was Population Dynamics and Port City Development: Comparative Analysis of Ten Asian Port Cities. Ten cities from five countries were selected for an in-depth comparison. From each country, a fast growing city and a slow growing city were selected in order to observe the causes and consequences of rapid urban population growth. Separate teams conducted research and interviews in each country.

The third report was the Second Asian Urban Inquiry 1992-1993 which followed the same general format established in the first report. It covered 133 cities in 10 countries.

The fourth report was the largest of AUICK's publications to date. Titled Population Dynamics and Urban Infrastructure, this report was the second round in the in-depth studies of a smaller number of cities. This report examined, in great detail, the situations in eight cities representing eight Asian countries. This study relies on a more "journalistic" approach than did the first in-depth study. In-depth interviews with city administrators provided the base for this report.