At the Top
http://www.msnbc.com/news/978205.asp

Increasingly, Asia's course is being charted by its booming cities?and
a crop of brash mayors

By George Wehrfritz
NEWSWEEK


Oct. 20 issue ? Shintaro Ishihara is an inveterate showman. But the
flamboyant governor of Tokyo deserves headlines for more than bashing
North Korea every chance he gets.

SINCE TAKING OFFICE in 1999, he's reined in runaway spending that
threatened to bankrupt the world's biggest city and put uniformed
troops on the streets (for disaster drills) for the first time since
World War II. He's not shy about challenging national leaders?having
raised taxes on banks against their objections?and has flirted with
the idea of running for prime minister himself. Arguably that might be
a lateral move: elected by a constituency that amounts to 10 percent
of the Japanese public, Ishihara has a popular mandate surpassing that
of any single legislator. Says political commentator Masayuki Fukuoka:
"What's [emerging] is a small-scale presidential system."

Evolving Tokyo: A 'City' Within the City
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/10/28/business/worldbusiness/28ropp.html
By JAMES BROOKE
Slightly larger than Rockefeller Center, Roppongi Hills is a $2.2
billion "city within a city" in the capital of Japan.

Tokyo
http://news.google.com/news?num=100&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=Tokyo&sa=N&tab=gn

http://www.google.com/search?num=100&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=Tokyo&sa=N&tab=nw

http://www.google.com/search?num=100&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=Tokyo&sa=N&tab=wd&cat=gwd%2FTop

http://groups.google.com/groups?as_q=Tokyo&safe=images&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&as_scoring=d&lr=&num=100&hl=en

Japan
http://news.google.com/news?num=100&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=Japan&sa=N&tab=gn

http://www.google.com/search?num=100&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=Japan&sa=N&tab=nw

http://www.google.com/search?num=100&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=Japan&sa=N&tab=wd&cat=gwd%2FTop

http://groups.google.com/groups?as_q=Japan&safe=images&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&as_scoring=d&lr=&num=100&hl=en

Supercity Planner
http://www.channel4.com/science/microsites/B/buildingthebest/game.html
You've got £10 million start up funds to plan your section of
Supercity. What would you do?

urbanization
http://news.google.com/news?num=100&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=urbanization&sa=N&tab=gn

http://www.google.com/search?num=100&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=urbanization&sa=N&tab=nw

http://www.google.com/search?num=100&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=urbanization&sa=N&tab=wd&cat=gwd%2FTop

http://groups.google.com/groups?as_q=urbanization&safe=images&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&as_scoring=d&lr=&num=100&hl=en

cities
http://news.google.com/news?num=100&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=cities&sa=N&tab=gn

http://www.google.com/search?num=100&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=cities&sa=N&tab=nw

http://www.google.com/search?num=100&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=cities&sa=N&tab=wd&cat=gwd%2FTop

http://groups.google.com/groups?as_q=cities&safe=images&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&as_scoring=d&lr=&num=100&hl=en

megacities
http://news.google.com/news?num=100&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=megacities&sa=N&tab=gn

http://www.google.com/search?num=100&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=megacities&sa=N&tab=nw

http://www.google.com/search?num=100&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=megacities&sa=N&tab=wd&cat=gwd%2FTop

http://groups.google.com/groups?as_q=megacities&safe=images&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&as_scoring=d&lr=&num=100&hl=en

East Asia
http://news.google.com/news?num=100&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=+%22East+Asia%22&sa=N&tab=gn

http://www.google.com/search?num=100&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=+%22East+Asia%22&sa=N&tab=nw

http://www.google.com/search?num=100&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=+%22East+Asia%22&sa=N&tab=wd&cat=gwd%2FTop

http://groups.google.com/groups?as_epq=East%20Asia&safe=images&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&as_scoring=d&lr=&num=100&hl=en

OT: Cities gain bohemian boom
http://groups.google.com/groups?q=g:thl2249996643d&dq=&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&selm=18510aff.0303211313.178e53d6%40posting.google.com

and thread

World's mega cities expand as millions quit the countryside
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,6903,1066232,00.html

The latest estimates predict that urban dwellers will outnumber the
rural population for the first time by 2007.

mega cities
http://news.google.com/news?num=100&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=+%22mega+cities%22&sa=N&tab=gn

http://www.google.com/search?num=100&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=+%22mega+cities%22&sa=N&tab=nw

http://www.google.com/search?num=100&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=+%22mega+cities%22&sa=N&tab=wd&cat=gwd%2FTop

http://groups.google.com/groups?as_epq=mega%20cities&safe=images&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&as_scoring=d&lr=&num=100&hl=en