City to host international forum on Asian cities

JAKARTA (JP): An international conference on Asian cities organized by the New York-based Asia Society and the Jakarta- based Center for Information and Development Studies (CIDES) will be held here from Dec. 2 to Dec. 5.

Asia Society vice president Vishakha N. Desai said the conference would look at Asian cities' problems and ways to improve the quality of life in Asian cities.

"The growth of Asian cities now is unlike any other time," Vishakha said Tuesday.

The conference is called "The Future of Asia's Cities, an International Conference on Urban Culture in Asia."

The conference is a follow up to June's United Nations' Habitat II conference on human settlements held in Istanbul, Turkey.

The Jakarta conference will focus on Asia's 52 cities which are expected to house over 4 million people by 2025.

Vishakha said the event would look at the impact of rapid urban growth on political, economic and cultural aspects of Asian city life.

She said diverse views from urban specialists, developers, bankers, activists and others would be presented in the conference.

President Soeharto will open the conference at the Presidential Palace and Governor Surjadi Soedirdja will close it.

United States envoy J. Stapleton Roy will also address the conference.

Asia Society and CIDES are working with the Indonesian Institute of Architects, the Indonesian Institute of Planners and the New York-based Mega-Cities Project.

The Asia Society was founded in 1956 by John D. Rockefeller 3rd to foster partnerships between Americans and Asians.

Compared to 40 years ago when Americans were unfamiliar with Asia as a region, awareness of Asia was now common in the U.S., partly because of its increasing Asian population, Vishaka said.

The conference will involve 400 participants and is sponsored by NYNEX Corporation, Lippobank, PT Freeport Indonesia, Bank Papan and PT Semen Cibinong. (anr)