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Project Leader	Prof. Richard C. ROCKWELL Senior Research Scientist, Institute for Social Research University of Michigan 426 Thompson Street Ann Arbor, MI 48106-1248 USA Tel/Fax: +1 734 998 9911 E-mail: richard@icpsr.umich.edu
Funding	The workshop was funded using the Hyogo Prefecture APN Symposium/Workshops fund.
Participating countries	Australia, China, India, Japan, Korea, Thailand, USA, ADB, IGBP, IHDP & START

Introduction/Background
Interest in cities and the environment has been rising in the Asia-Pacific region for some time. For example, Japan's Institute for Global Environmental Strategies, formed just a few years ago, took on a comparative study of cities among its initial projects. A number of other megacity studies are underway throughout the region, at institutions such as the United Nations University.

In recognition of its priority topic of human dimensions and the increasing suggestions by SPG members that global change research on urbanisation should be an area of APN interest, the APN decided to make urbanisation the topic of one of the two scoping workshops held in Kobe in October 1999. The workshop was the first major step in scoping a programme of activities designed to develop a better understanding of the relationship between cities and the causes and impacts of global change.

Outline of activities conducted
In preparation, the organizer wrote a prospectus for the workshop.  This document was intended to set large boundaries for the discussions and decisions that would ensue.  APN staff were instrumental in improving both the prospectus and the workshop agenda, the latter of which was drafted in Kobe.  In addition, wide consultations led to the identification of a number of possible participants, the majority of whom who were contacted accepted APN's invitation to come to Kobe.  APN staff were again helpful here, as was START.

Participants were sent a variety of background materials in advance of the workshop but were not asked to prepare formal papers.  They were, however, asked to think about their own research interests and how they intersect with the broad topic of the scoping workshop.  The workshop lasted only two days; it would have been more conclusive and yielded more substantial pre-proposals had it lasted three days.  Nevertheless, in a series of small workgroups, the 17 participants were able to develop five themes that could become part of an APN program.  They are now at work revising their pre-proposals for seed funding of those projects.  The small working groups were occasionally joined by participants from the simultaneous CLIMAG workshop, and the two groups had lunch together on the first day (with a presentation on the great Kobe earthquake) and met twice in plenary.

Outcomes/Products
The major outcome was the creation of some embryonic research groups and the preparation of five pre-proposals. The organizer will continue to seek to shape the proposals into concrete, fundable projects that would fit into the APN research agenda and that of the International Human Dimensions Programme -- Industrial Transformation science focus on cities, with which the APN program seeks to cooperate.
The titles of the five pre-proposals are as follows:

1. Climate Change and Water Use in Asian-Pacific Cities
2. GHG Budgets and Future Emission Scenarios of Some Mega-Cities in Asia
3. Environmental Consequences of Urbanization in Asia and Pacific Rim:  Hot Spots and Coastal Zones
4. Urbanization and Environmental Quality Change
5. Reducing the Carbon Intensiveness of Urban Living: a Screening Assessment Of Selected Technologies and Planning Strategies

Funding for the following activities is therefore requested:

1. A follow-up workshop to be held in conjunction with the APN Symposium in July 2000 on the theme of urbanisation. This workshop would aim to (1) enable the two more advanced pre-proposals to be developed into a concrete research proposals; (2) allow further development of the remaining pre-proposals (3) provide a forum for more general consideration of the research programme, its contents, advancement, etc.
2. Reconnaissance trips for the two advanced pre-proposals.  This travel (plus telephone and e-mail communication) would help participants sort out which measurements exist, which could be collected, and whether the targeted cities are likely to be cooperative in the research.  Funding will be allocated between these two projects by the APN Secretariat in consultation with the organizer.
3. Recruitment of one or more research assistants to aid with library and Web research, to track down sources of data, and otherwise to enable the working groups to produce concrete, fundable research proposals.  As stipends and customs differ widely in the region, allocation of funding to each working group and within each working group will be decided upon by the APN Secretariat in collaboration with the members of the working group and the organizer.
4. The University of Michigan has been contributing the organizer's time for the development of this program.  It is anticipated that the University of Connecticut will be enthusiastic about contributing his time as well, and discussions about this have already been held.  The organizer's new responsibilities, as the director of the University's incubator unit for new social science research projects, fit naturally with the APN program, and the University is making seed funding available to him that could be allocated in part to this program.  However, there are now emerging tasks to be done that cannot be reasonably taken on by the staff of either university. Much of the administration of this program must remain in the hands of the APN Secretariat, but the organizer of this program needs rather more extensive support than the Secretariat can be expected to provide if this program is to succeed.  It is suggested that funds be set aside for a part-time assistant to work exclusively on the administration of the programme.