Asian

Urban

Research

Association

Sponsors of the Asian Urbanization Conferences

Announcing the . . .

Eleventh Asian Urbanization Conference

Hyderabad, India

December 10-13, 2011

Department of Geography

Osmania University

Call for Papers forthcoming

Contact Local Organizer

Dr. Kalpana Markandy for details at kalpanamarkandey@yahoo.com

The Tenth Asian Urbanization Conference was an unqualified success!

The conference, convened August 16-18, 2009 and locally organized and hosted by the Centre for Urban and Environmental Management, University of Hong Kong

Hong Kong SAR, China was a resounding success, with over 120 participants presenting over 80 papers or posters, and drawn from 21 countries and territories. To review the conference program, please access these links:

Conference website - http://www.hku.hk/asia2009/

For more information about AURA, the Asian Urbanization Conferences, and related topics contact: George Pomeroy, AURA Secretary, Geography-Earth Science Department, Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania, Shippensburg PA 17257, USA. gmpome@ship.edu / 717-477-1776 (voice).

Welcome to the Asian Urban Research Association

OBJECTIVES

Rapid urbanization and city growth in Asian countries have followed different processes that have given rise to a variety of social, economic and political problems. With a view to promoting research on these problems, of which the geographical and economic characteristics are particularly emphasized, the Asian Urban Research Association (AURA) provides the following opportunities:

· To take part in the work regarding the themes of the Asian Urbanization Conferences, in the dialogue between highly qualified and active scholars in the field from various parts of the world, and expand the network of international professional contacts;

· To exchange views and experiences, analyze the situation of Asian urbanization and the policies of different countries for their urbanization processes, grasp new trends of research, evaluate urban and regional planning approaches and the processes per se, and to present research papers for discussion and selection for publication;

ORGANIZATION

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEMBERS

ASIAN URBAN RESEARCH ASSOCIATION

Frank J. Costa, Professor Emeritus, University of Akron

Ashok K. Dutt, Professor Emeritus, University of Akron

Laurence J.C. Ma, Professor Emeritus, University of Akron

Allen G. Noble, Distinguished Professor Emeritus, University of Akron

Yehua Dennis Wei, Professor, University of Utah

and

George M. Pomeroy, Associate Professor, Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania (Executive Secretary)

The Asian Urbanization Research Association is headquartered at the

Department of Geography and Planning, University of Akron

INTERNATIONAL BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Surinder Aggarwal Delhi School of Economics Delhi University Delhi, India	Shii Okuno University of Marketing and Decision Sciences(Kobe, Japan)	Baleshwar Thakur University of Delhi
David Chang Department of Geography National Taiwan University Taipei, Taiwan	Bimal Paul Department of Geography and Planning Kansas State University	Gopalan Venugopal Department of Geography Ball State University
Graham Chapman Department of Geography Lancaster University	Clifton Pannell Department of Geography University of Georgia	Susan Walcott Georgia State University
Nora Chiang Department of Geography National Taiwan University	B.R.K. Sinha Banares Hindu University	Yehua Dennis Wei University of Utah
Gonghao Cui Department of Geography Nanjing University	Nakhun Song Gangwon Development Research Institute	Jack F. Williams Department of Geography Michigan State University
Jayati Ghosh Dominican University of California	S. Subbiah Department of Geography University of Madras	Fulong Wu School of Urban and Regional Planning University of Cardiff
T.G. McGee Institute for Asian Research University of British Columbia

A CHRONOLOGY OF THE ASIAN URBANIZATION CONFERENCES

TENTH ASIAN URBANIZATION CONFERENCE

Venue: University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, People’s Republic of China

Dates: August 16 through 19, 2009

Principal Organizers: Anthony G. O. Yeh and Roger C.K. Chan, Centre of Urban Studies and Urban Planning, University of Hong Kong.

Host / Organizing Partners: The Asian Urban Research Association (AURA) and the Regional Development and Planning Specialty Group of the Association of American Geographers

Description:

Amidst the globalized context of Hong Kong, the Tenth Asian Urbanization Conference was convened August 16-19, 2009. Organized locally and hosted by the Center for Urban Studies and Urban Planning at the University of Hong Kong, the conference was a resounding success, with over 120 participants presenting over 80 papers or posters, and drawn from 21 countries and territories.

Local organizers Professors Anthony G.O. Yeh and Roger C.K. Chan put together an impressive program of scholarly sessions, complemented by several technical tours and a banquet with a cultural program. Plenary session presentations included “Planning for Coordinated Development Between Hong Kong and the Pearl River Delta” by the Planning Director of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Mrs. Ava S.Y. Tse Ng and “Rethinking Asian Cities and Urbanization: Four Transformations in Four Decades” by Professor Yue-man Yeung of The Chinese University of Hong Kong. The conference opened with welcoming remarks from Professor Lap-Chee Tsui, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Hong Kong, Professors Yeh and Chan of the University of Hong Kong, and Professor Ashok K. Dutt, representing the Asian Urban Research Association.

There were three technical tours provided by conference organizers. A half day technical visit was made to the Hong Kong Planning and Infrastructure Exhibition Gallery, the CBD, and the Wan Cahi Redevelopment District. A second technical visit was made to Macau to examine heritage tourism planning and the impacts of rapid casino development in the former Portuguese colony. An third and overnight technical visit was made to selected parts of Guangdong Province, including the booming cities of Guangzhou and Shenzen, where site visits were made to the CBDs, planning bureau and exhibitions of each. The tour was ably organized by University of Hong Kong Ph.D. students who had planning experience working in Guangzhou and Shenzen Planning Bureau.

NINTH ASIAN URBANIZATION CONFERENCE

Venue: Kangwon National University, Chuncheon, Republic of Korea (South Korea).

Dates: August 18 through 23, 2007

Principal Organizers: Nakhun Song, Gangwon Regional Development Institute and Gabyoul Kim, Kangwon National University.

Host / Organizing Partners: Kangwon National University (KNU), Gangwon Regional Development Institute (GDRI), Asian Urban Research Association (AURA), the Regional Development and Planning Specialty Group of the Association of American Geographers, The University of Akron, and Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania.

Description: With academics and practitioners from over twenty countries attending, the Ninth Asian Urbanization Conference was convened in Chuncheon, South Korea on August 18 through 23, 2007. The conference, hosted jointly by the Kangwon National University (KNU) and Gangwon Regional Development Institute (GRDI), was held on the KNU campus and featured participants from Canada, China (People’s Republic of), Fiji, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Iran, Japan, Jordan, Kuwait, Malaysia, New Zealand, Oman, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Thailand, The Netherlands, Turkey, Vietnam, and the United States. Conference sponsors included the Asian Urban Research Association (AURA), the Regional Development and Planning Specialty Group of the Association of American Geographers, The University of Akron and Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania, as well as the host institutions.

The keynote address, “Asia’s Urban Future,” was delivered by Ashok K. Dutt and Frank J. Costa, both emeritus faculty from the University of Akron. George Pomeroy, Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania and AURA Secretary, presented service awards sponsored by the College of Arts and Sciences at Shippensburg University to the founding members of AURA. A service award was also presented to Shii Okuno, University of Marketing and Distribution Sciences (in Kobe, Japan) for his efforts in organizing the previous Asian Urbanization Conference. The conference was ably organized by Nakhun Song (Principal Organizer; GDRI) and Gabyoul Kim, Chair of the Department of Real Estate at KNU. The conference included field trips to Seoul (visiting new towns, the Cheonggye River restoration project, and the Insadong District) and the DMZ Unification Observatory.

In total, over 80 papers were presented. Representative and illustrative paper titles include “Hierarchical Network Strategies: An Agenda for Reciprocal Rural-Urban Linkages” (Khalil Kalantari, Tehran University), “Exploring the Spatial Structure of Innovative Activities in Korea” (Junho Jung, Kangwon National University), and “Commissioned Mural Art in Post-Colonial Hong Kong from 1997 to 2006” (Kong Ho, University of Pittsburgh at Bradford).

8TH ASIAN URBANIZATION CONFERENCE

Venue: Kobe, Japan at Ryutsu Kagaka University; otherwise known as University of Marketing and Distribution Sciences (UMDS)

Dates: August 20 through 23, 2005

Principal Organizer: Shii Okuno, Ryutsu Kagaka University

Host / Organizing Partners: Ryutsu Kagaka University (otherwise known as University of Marketing and Distribution Sciences (UMDS)) and the Asian Urban Research Association (AURA)

Description: With over 120 participants presenting over 80 papers and representing 22 countries, this was the most widely participated Asian Urbanization Conference. The conference had a rich exchange of ideas through the papers and discussions. A wide range of papers were presented from different countries of the world. The topic of the papers ranged from Asia in general (5), comparative study of cities on Asian countries (7), GIS-related technical papers (3), to Chinese in Toronto and Tokyo (2). Papers from China were the largest in number (19), followed by India (11), Pakistan (6), Bangladesh (3), Thailand (3), Taiwan (2), Iran (2), Malaysia (2), Indonesia (1), and Myanmar (1). The subject matter of the papers ranged from city studies, modernization, sustainable cities, of the cities, internal structure of the metropolis, to country studies such as urbanization in China and India

Opening plenary speakers Ashok Dutt and Frank Costa (presenting “Asian Urbanization in the 21st Century: Conceptual Roots, Trends and Characteristics) were followed by Kazuhiko Tabata, Laurence J.C. Ma, and Yue-man Yeung. An opening reception featured a welcome from UMDS Vice-President and comments from Shii Okuno (Principal Organizer) and Ashok Dutt (AURA Executive Committee Member). For Closing Ceremonies, Ashok Dutt was joined by Nakhun Song of the Gangwon Development Research Institute (Korea) for the closing remarks. Dr. Song cordially invited all participants to the 9th Asian Urbanization Conference to be held in Korea in 2007.

Four field trips took urbanists, planners, and geographers to Kobe, Osaka, Tokyo, and Kyoto.

7TH ASIAN URBANIZATION CONFERENCE

Venue: Athens, Georgia, U.S.A, at the University of Georgia

Dates: March 1st through 3rd, 2003

Principal Organizer: Clifton Pannell, Dean of Arts and Sciences, University of Georgia

Host / Organizing Partners: Department of Geography, University of Georgia; Georgia State University and the Asian Urban Research Association (AURA)

Description: The Conference had over 30 papers primarily on Topics related to China, Japan and South Asia. In addition to large number from USA, participants came from China, Japan, Korea, India, England and Ghana. The Conference ended with a Field Trip of Atlanta, Georgia and the high point of the trip was a visit to Korean / Vietnamese / Chinese ethnic concentration at the North-Eastern part of Atlanta. The International Board of Directors of AURA was reconstituted; new members were added; they were Susan Walcott, Bimal Paul, B. R. K. Sinha, Nakhun Song, Jayati Ghosh, George Pomeroy, Dennis Wei, Fulong Wu and Shii Okuno.

6TH ASIAN URBANIZATION CONFERENCE

Venue: Chennai (formerly Madras), India and hosted by the Geography Department at Madras University.

Dates: January 5 through 9, 2000.

Principal Organizer: S. Subbiah (University of Madras) and G. Venugopal (Ball State University)

Organizing Partners: Geography Department, University of Madras and the Asian Urban Research Association (AURA)

Description: Attracting participants from across Asia, Australia, North America and Europe, this conference featured a keynote address by the City Planning Director of Chennai and field trips to the City Planning Department and Mahabalipuram. S. Subbiah, the principal organizer, and Ashok K. Dutt of AURA welcomed conference participants.

Publication: Conference papers were published in the volume Challenges to 21st Century Asian Urbanization (Kluwer, 2003) edited by Ashok K. Dutt, Allen G. Noble, Gopalan Venugopal, and S. Subbiah.

5TH ASIAN URBANIZATION CONFERENCE

Venue: London, England and hosted by the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) of London University.

Dates: August 26 through 30, 1997.

Principal Organizer: Graham Chapman of Lancaster University.

Organizing Partners / Conference Sponsors: The School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), London University, and was organized by Professor Graham Chapman, Department of Geography, Lancaster University, England. The other sponsors of the conference included the Department of Geography and Planning, The University of Akron and Developing Areas Research Group of the Royal Geographical Society and the Institute of British Geographers, with the Asian Urbanization Research Association (AURA).

Description: The three conference days (27th through 29th) ran four concurrent sessions in which papers were presented on broad topics that related to urban base, gender / ethnicity and access, transport / infrastructure, analytical techniques / GIS, urban land markets, environment, health, migration, urban land use, government / institutions, and the electronic city. Each paper was allocated 45 minutes for presentation and discussion, which made the paper presentations much more substantive. Over 100 delegates and presenters came from 16 different countries – Belgium, Canada, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Japan, The Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The United States was represented by 15 presenters - Frank J. Costa, Satish Davgun, Ashok Dutt, Cindy Fan, Jayati Ghosh, Mei-Ling Hsu, P.P. Karan, Laurence Ma, Cotton Mather, Allen Noble, Clifton Pannell, Brian Sommers, Gail Gordon Sommers, Dallen Timothy, Anita Weiss, and Jack Williams. Delegates representing Canada were Jacques Ledent, K.C. Tan, and S.T. Wang; all presenting papers. The conference started with a plenary session guest lecture by Professor Nigel Harris of SOAS who discussed patterns of Asian urbanization. The plenary session guest lecture was given by Professor John Whitelegg on Transport and the Sustainable Urban Future. Representing the executive committee of the Asian Urban Research Association (AURA), Dr. Ashok K. Dutt and Dr. Allen G. Noble, spoke at the beginning and end of the sessions respectively, describing the activities of the association. Scholars who have presented papers at the various Asian Urbanization Conferences have been invited to participate in the publications that emanated subsequent to each conference. The International Board of Directors of AURA was reconstituted. The new Board consists of Norton Ginsburg, Clifton Pannell, Jack Williams, and Gopalan Venugopal from the USA; T.G. McGee from Canada; Yue-man Yeung from Hong Kong; Gonghao Cue from China; Baleshwar Thakur, Surinder Aggarwal, and S. Subbiah from India; Graham Chapman from England.

Publications:

Chapman, Dutt, Bradnock (eds.) (1999). Urban Growth and Development in Asia Vol. I, Making the Cities, Vol. II, Living in the Cities. Aldershot: Ashgate.

4TH ASIAN URBANIZATION CONFERENCE

Venue: Taipei, Taiwan at the Grand Hotel

Dates: January 1st through 5th, 1994.

Principal Organizers: David Chang and Nora Chiang (both of National Taiwan University), along with Kenneth Corey, Gill-Chin Lim, and Jack Willams of Michigan State University.

Organizing Partners: National Taiwan University’s Geography Department and the Asian Studies Center at Michigan State University, along with the Asian Urban Research Association (AURA)

Publication:

Chiang, Lan-Hung Nora, Jack F. Williams, and Heather L. Bednarek (eds.) (1996). Proceedings: Fourth Asian Urbanization Conference. East Lancing, Michigan; Asian Studies Center Michigan State University.

3RD ASIAN URBANIZATION CONFERENCE

Venue: Delhi, India at Delhi University

Dates: January, 1991

Principal Organizers: Patron, Dr. Moonis Raja, Vice-Chancellor, Delhi University (DU); Chairperson, Dr. R. P. Mishra, Head of the Department of Geography, DU; Vice-Chairpersons, Dr. Ashok K. Dutt, Professor of Urban Studies/Geography at the University of Akron, USA, Dr. Kundu, Professor, Regional Development Center, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) and Dr. Ramachandran, Professor of Geography, DU; Secretary-General, Dr. Surinder Aggarwal, Professor of Geography, DU; Secretaries, Dr. Baleswar Thakur, Professor of Geography, DU and Dr. Sudesh Nangia Professor, Regional Development Center, JNU. Other members of the organizing committee were from different organizations in Delhi.

Organizing Partners: Asian Urban Research Association (AURA)

Description and Publications: The Delhi conference organized paper sessions and special topic symposia on various aspects related to the urbanization of Asia. Based on conference papers a special issue of GeoJournal and a book were published in 1993 and 1994 respectively.

Dutt, Ashok K., Frank J. Costa, Surinder Aggarwal and Allen G. Noble (eds.). (1994). The Asian City: Processes of Development, Characteristics and Planning, Dordrecht, Boston, London; Kluwer Academic Publishers.

2ND ASIAN URBANIZATION CONFERENCE

Venue: Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, People’s Republic of China at Nanjing University

Dates: August 8 through 14, 1988

Principal Organizers: Gonghao Cui, Jiatai Song, and Ying Wang (of Nanjing University), Laurence J.C. Ma of the University of Akron, Yue-man Yeung, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, and Mei Ling Young University of Sains Malaysia.

Organizing Partners / Sponsors: Department of Geography and the Center for Urban Studies of Nanjing University, the Working Group on Urbanization in Developing Countries of the International Geographical Union, and the Asian Urban Research Association (AURA).

Publication:

Costa, Frank J., Ashok K. Dutt, Laurence J.C. Ma and Allen G. Noble (eds.). (1989). Urbanization in Asia: Spatial Dimensions and Policy Issues, Honolulu; University of Hawaii Press.

1ST ASIAN URBANIZATION CONFERENCE

Venue: Akron, Ohio, U.S.A.

Dates: April, 19 and 20, 1985

Principal Organizers: Frank J. Costa, Ashok K. Dutt, Laurence J.C. Ma, and Allen G. Noble (in alphabetical order); the future Executive Committee of the Asian Urbanization Research Association (AURA).

Organizing Partners and Sponsors: Co-sponsored by the Department of Geography, the Center for Urban Studies, and the Center for International Programs, all at the University of Akron.

Description: The inaugural Asian Urbanization Conference! More than 70 scholars from fourteen nations participated in the conference. The conference resulted in the publication of two books and three special issues in professional journals (one in the Geographical Review and two in Urban Geography) published in the United States.

Many participants of the conference felt that there was a need for similar conferences to be held in different countries every three years or so, to enable interested urban scholars and planners to exchange views on recent development in various Asian regions. As a result, the Asian Urban Research Association (AURA) was formally established in January 1986, housed permanently at the University of Akron. The AURA is a non-profit and private research organization whose primary purpose is to promote the study of urbanization, urban growth in Asian regions and to organize Asian Urbanization Conferences.

PUBLICATIONS RESULTING FROM THE ASIAN URBANIZATION CONFERENCES

Books

1. Costa, Frank J., Ashok K. Dutt, Laurence J.C. Ma and Allen G. Noble, Asian Urbanization: Problems and Processes, Stuttgart; Gebruder Borntraeger, 1988.

2. Costa, Frank J., Ashok K. Dutt, Laurence J.C. Ma and Allen G. Noble, Urbanization in Asia: Spatial Dimensions and Policy Issue, Honolulu; University of Hawaii Press, 1989.

3. Dutt, Ashok K., Frank J. Costa, Surinder Aggarwal and Allen G. Noble, The Asian City: Processes of Development, Characteristics and Planning, Dordrecht, Boston, London; Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1994.

4. Chiang, Lan-Hung Nora, Jack F. Williams, and Heather L. Bednarek, Proceedings: Fourth Asian Urbanization Conference, East Lancing, Michigan; Asian Studies Center Michigan State University, 1996.

5. Chapman, Dutt, Bradnock (eds.), Urban Growth and Development in Asia Vol. I, Making the Cities, Vol. II, Living in the Cities, Aldershot: Ashgate, 1999.

6. Dutt, Noble , Venugopal and Subbiah (eds.), Challenges to 21st Century Asian Urbanization, Dordrecht, Boston & London: Kluwer Academic Press, 2003.

Special Issues of Journals

1. Guest Editors, Ma, Laurence J.C. and Allen G. Noble, Special Issue on Chinese Cities, Urban Geography, Vol. 7, No. 4 (1986).
2. Geographical Review, Vol. 76, No. 2 (1986). Costa, Frank J., Ashok K. Dutt, Laurence J.C. Ma and Allen G. Noble acknowledged.
3. Guest Editors, Dutt, Ashok K., Surinder Aggarwal, Frank J. Costa, and Allen G. Noble, Special Issue on Urban Issues and Urbanization Characteristics of Asia, GeoJournal, Vol. 29, No. 2 (1993).