GREAT CITIES’ PROBLEMS

Press, Volume CXII, Issue 33093, 7 December 1972, Page 19

GREAT CITIES’ PROBLEMS

(N.Z.PjI.-Reuter—Copyright) TOKYO, December 5. Five of the world’s greatest cities opened a unique conference on urban problems in Tokyo with a warning that deteriorating cities were blighting the existence and destroying the health of tens of millions of people.

The conference host, the Governor of Tokyo, Dr Ryokichi Minobe, declared: “The world’s mammoth cities have played an important role in national, political, economic and cultural development. But technology which in the past aided urban progress, has today advanced to where it has become the cause of urban disruption, blighting the existence of tens of millions of people. Modern civilisation, in creating large cities, has created a host of attendant problems.” It is these problems the leaders of London, Moscow, New York, Paris, and Tokyo, will discuss and hope to find some solutions over the next three days. Each city will present a report on its biggest headaches and successes before detailed discussions begin in the major problem areas— Rousing shortage, garbage and sewage disposal, air and water pollution, water supply, traffic congestion, overburdened commuter transport systems and facilities for

the aged. In his opening address Dr Minobe, an economist-tumed-politician. spoke of some of the problems created by modem civilisation in its search for technological advancement “Automobiles — conveniences of the twentieth century—have increased in such numbers that they cause traffic jams and accidents, create photochemical smog and are a general nuisance to the urban citizens,” he said. “Plastics, once hailed as a miracle product of the petrochemical industry, now pose a disposal problem, and unless a solution is found we may well eventually find ourselves inundated in a sea of plastic waste. “The concentration of factories in urban areas leads to contamination of the air

and water, produces offensive noises, or create radioactive hazards. Industry destroys nature environment and piles up waste. “If the situation is allowed to continue cities will cease to be symbols of national achievement and instead become symbols of retrogression and inefficiency. They will destroy the health of urban residents and produce a siutation so bad that it will carry into the next generation,” Dr Minobe said.

The 68-year-old Governor said that in some cities the problems were compounded by lack of adequate housing, transport, and water, as well as poverty, crime, disease and disasters.

The holding of the conference in Tokyo — the world’s largest city with more than 11 million people — fulfills a three-year campaign by Dr Minobe, who hoped it would not only solve urban problems but also contribute to peace. He originally hoped to have 10 cities present and one of the most notable absentees today was Peking. Wu Teh, chairman of Peking’s Revolutionary Committee, said that his busy schedule prevented him from attending—but most observers believed the real reason was the presence at the conference table of Moscow.

Although some of the participants reportedly persuaded the Tokyo Governor to drop his plan to include political issues in the discussions, he managed to include some references in his opening address. “International peace is essential to the solution of our cities’ problems,” he said. “As you know, London, Moscow, Paris and Tokyo all suffered heavy damage during the Second World War. New York, though spared physical damage, has not been able to escane the dark clouds cast by the Vietnam war. “It is impossible to measure the destructive impact that war has had on the people of cities. I have the highest regard for those warravaged cities that have so magnificently rebuilt themselves. But how much more prosperous our cities would be if war had been avoided.” London is represented by Sir Desmond Plummer, chairman of the Greater London

Council, Moscow by Mr Vladamir Promyslov, chairman of the City Executive Committee, New York by the

I Mayor (Mr John Lindsay), and Paris by Mr Raoul Moreau, secretary-general of the prefecture. .