BACKGROUND

With support from the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the City of Kobe, the Asian Urban Information Center of Kobe (AUICK) was founded in 1989. Since then it has been engaged in the study and research of urban problems facing Asian cities by conducting "Asian Urban Inquiries" and organizing "Research Projects". In addition, in 1994, the AUICK established the "Group Training Course on Integrated Urban Policy" for middle-ranking administrative officials in medium-sized cities in Asian countries, with the aim of introducing the process that Kobe and other Japanese cities have undergone and the actual urban policies they have implemented.

The City of Kobe has been consistently promoting the building of a city based on the citizens' needs, and the methods for building a city and for improving urban environments are highly evaluated at home and overseas. The City of Kobe is now promoting restoration work from the disasters caused by the earthquake in January 1995. Therefore, this course also introduces concrete plans and measures to build " a city that stands strong against disasters".

In 2000 this training course was renamed to "Workshop on Population and Sustainable Development", targeting senior city officials who own second authority of policy-making such as vice mayor, administrator, and commissioner of the 10 selected countries: Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam. 

AIM

The objective of this training course is to introduce to top-ranking administrative officials, including vice mayor, administrator, and commissioner, in medium-sized cities with a population of 100,000 to 4 million in Asian countries various concrete examples of how Kobe and other Japanese cities have been working to solve urban problems in housing, urban environments, transportation, public health and medical care - thus helping them to grasp clues to solutions on a wide scope of urban problems that have occurred due to population migration, and contributing to these cities' appropriate and sustainable development. At the same tune, the training course is aimed at contributing to the building of a network among medium-sized cities in Asian countries.

Targets to be Attained:

1. To obtain a summary understanding of population dynamics, family planning, housing, urban environments, transportation, public health and medical care, and welfare in Kobe and other Japanese cities, as well as plans to build a new disaster-safe city.
2. To understand what kind of urban problems occurred in Kobe, how these problems occurred, and how the Kobe city government is dealing with them.
3. To facilitate effective proposals from each participant to solve urban problems confronted by the city to which each participant belongs.
4. To form a network among the participants' cities, the City of Kobe, the UNFPA and AUICK.

PARTICIPANTS

Pranab Kumar Neogi
Chief Executive Officer, Central Administration, Narayanganj Municipality, BANGLADESH

Apoorva
Joint Commissioner (Health, Health and Works), Chennai Corporation, INDIA

Samsul Arifin
Head, Administration Division, Agriculture Department, Surabaya Municipality, INDONESIA

Komal Prasad Kafle
Chief Executive Officer, Lalitpur Sub-Metropolitan City Office, NEPAL

Hamid Ali Khan
District Coordination Officer, Rawalpindi District Government, PAKISTAN

Victoria Velasquez Loanzon
Special Assistant to the Mayor, Office of the Chairman, People's Council of Buon Ma Thuot City, Vietnam Mayor, Quezon City Government, PHILIPPINES

Wanni Arachchilage Gunawardena
Municipal Commissioner, Local Government Service. Dehiwala-Mount Lavinia Municipal Council, SRI LANKA

Ponsri Kictham
Director, Bureau of Environment and Health, Non thabui Municipality, THAILAND

Huynh Ngoc Luan
Chairman, People's Council of Buon Ma Thuot City, VIETNAM

PERIOD

Tuesday, 22 July  to Thursday, 31 July 2003

PROGRAM

REVIEW

Topics addressed during this year's lectures and opinion exchange sessions included population issues and related urban problems, ageing, and city planning. Participants also made observational visits to Kobe Compound Industrial Park, city-owned welfare facilities, the Disaster Reduction and Human Renovation Institute, and the Port of Kobe. Everyone expressed particular interest in Kobe's recovery from the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake and said that it would serve as a good source of motivation for the development of their cities. Thanks to individual reports on current situations in participants' cities and subsequent opinion exchange sessions, participants left the workshop with an increased understanding of the issues facing each other's cities.