Background:

The 1^st International Conference on Urban Disaster Reduction (ICUDR) was convened collaboratively by the Institute of Social Safety Science, Japan and the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute, USA on 18th to 20th of January, 2005 in Kobe, Japan following the bilateral efforts and seven workshops held between USA and Japan on earthquake disaster reduction since 1984. The focus has been extended to cover any kind of natural and man-made disasters in the 1^st ICUDR. The 2^nd ICUDR will be held in Taipei, Taiwan on November 27-29 of 2007, organized by the Disaster Management Society of Taiwan, with close collaboration with the Institute of Social Safety Science, Japan and the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute, USA.

Closing Banquet at the First International Conference on Urban Disaster Reduction, in Kobe, Japan. The conference commemorated the tenth anniversary of the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake, which struck Kobe, Japan, on January 17, 1995 and claimed over 6,000 lives.

Main Theme: Large-Scale Disaster Management

Our environment has become more vulnerable to natural and man-made disasters. The world is in need of comprehensive policy and strategy of disaster management to deal with the complex and large-scale disasters, especially in the urban area. Hence, the 2^nd ICUDR will be focusing on the management of large-scale natural and man-made disasters in urban areas. Policies, strategies, technologies and experiences on preparedness, mitigation, response, relief and recovery of urban disasters will be deeply discussed. Through multilateral interactions and cooperation among researchers and participants worldwide we will have better capabilities and resilience against future disasters.

Conference Topics:

1. Sustainable development and urban disaster reduction:
   landscape planning and rehabilitation, urban and community-based planning, management of water resource, minimization of global warming effect, environment conservation and biodiversity
   

2. Multi-hazard risk assessment:
   risk recognition, risk assessment, scenario-based simulation technique, hazard mapping for all hazards.

3. Application of early warning system by practices, implementation or policy: earthquake, typhoon (Tropic cyclones, hurricane), flood, debris flow, landslide, man-made disasters.

4. Advanced technology for disaster reduction:
   retrofit technology for bridges and buildings, wireless sensing for structural health monitoring and warning, remote sensing for hazard identification.

5. Socio-economic dimensions of urban disaster management:
   economic, social and psychological vulnerability, behavioral analysis toward disaster reduction, disaster insurance.

6. Communication innovation and information integration:
   real time damage assessment tool, visualization, decision-making support system.

7. Relief, recovery, relocation, and reconstruction after catastrophic events: community-based activity post disaster, NGO and NPO’s role and participation, financing projects for disaster relief and reconstruction.

8. Lessons learned and new directions for disaster management:
   earthquake and tsunami, extreme cyclone event, social disorder induced by disasters.