ICUS NEWSLETTER

International Center for Urban Safety Engineering
Institute of Industrial Science
The University of Tokyo

Special Issue
APRIL 2011

CLOSING THE “OLD” ICUS
AND MOVING TOWARDS THE “NEW” ICUS
By
Kimiro Meguro1
The
International
Centerfor Urban Safety Engineering(ICUS), Institute of Industrial
Science (IIS), the University ofTokyo, was established in April
2001 as a research organization
with the objective of carrying out
advanced researches on urban
safety engineering including
development and maintenance ofurban infrastructure from global
aspects. ICUS is a successor to theInternational Center for Disaster
Mitigation Engineering (INCEDE;
April 1991 to March 2001) andexpanded INCEDE’s researcharea.
Fiscal year 2010 was the tenthyear of ICUS, and March 2011
marked the end of the “old” ICUS.
However, IIS, the University ofTokyo, approved a 5-year funding
extension, and thus April 2011
marks the start of the “new”

ICUS.
This newsletter is thus a special
edition to both close the “old”
ICUS, by reviewing ICUS’s
achievements and activities overthe last ten years, and to movetowards the “new” ICUS, byintroducing our vision and plans forthe next five years. We were also
fortunate enough to receive manykind words and well-wishes from
ICUS’s long-time collaborators

ICUS members for fiscal year 2010

ICUS Newsletter Special Issue

Page 2acquired by wide-ranging research
and friends, which we would also conditions.
ICUS has not only strived to and development activities in bothlike to share in this special edition.
implement the research activities Japan and overseas. The ICUS
above but also to ensure that Newsletter, distributed four times a
CLOSINGadvanced research and technology year, the “International Symposium
THE “OLD” ICUS
are transferred, together with on New Technologies for Urban
Since its establishment in 2001, expertise and experience for Safety of Mega Cities in Asia,” an
ICUS has been carrying out many effective application, especially to annual symposium, and numerous
ICUS Reports demonstrate ICUS’s
activities for its core objectives developing nations.
ICUS has also been very efforts towards the communicationof advanced researches, network
formation,andinformation active in building networks and dissemination of researchwithexternalorganizations, works and technologies.
collection and dissemination.
In summary, the overall
international
Advanced researches have including
been carried out in three academic organizations. This evaluation of ICUS over the lastresearch divisions: “Sustainable can be illustrated by the many ten years is high and the externalEngineering,” “Urban Safety Memoranda of Understanding evaluation committee concluded
and Disaster Mitigation,” and (MOU) with universities and that ICUS has achieved extremely“Infrastructure
Information research organizations across good results.
Dynamics.” The Sustainable the Asia Pacific Region. ICUSEngineering Division has been also established regional offices
INTRODUCING
carrying out research targeted at in Bangkok, Thailand (Regional
THE “NEW” ICUS
evaluating the structural safety of Network for Urban Safety,
Considering the past activities
aging social infrastructure facilities RNUS) and Dhaka, Bangladesh
from the material to structural (Bangladesh Network for Urban and the present societal conditions,levels and developing maintenance Safety, BNUS) to further activities ICUS plans to update and continue
and management technologies. in these areas. ICUS has also its activities for the next five years.
The Urban Safety and Disaster actively organized many domestic The purpose of this “new” ICUS is
Mitigation Division has contributed research committees for building to identify, investigate, and resolve
issues so as to enable proper urban
extensively to society by taking industry-academic collaboration.
Information is collected and infrastructure to be realized anda multi-disciplinary approach
bridging different specialties, andcan be seen in works such as site
investigation of natural disasters
and accidents, simulation ofdisasters and their impacts due toflood and/or earthquakes, disasterprevention training systems andmanuals, and the developmentof seismic capacity evaluation
and retrofitting technologies andtheir implementation. Finally, theInfrastructure Informatics Division
has been involved with automatic
processing of satellite data insoutheast Asia and other researchsuch as environmental monitoring
using satellite data, researchon traffic management during
disasters, numerical fluid dynamics
for heat island phenomena, and the
spread of urban fires during windy
Research areas of the “new” ICUS

ICUS Newsletter Special Issue

Page 3sustained in such a way that the
inhabitants can live prosperously
and safely. Typical features ofcurrent Japanese society include a
declining birthrate, aging society,shrinkingbudget,advanced
technology,
environmental
awareness, impacted by global
warming,
decentralized
andcompact human settlement, andso forth. At the same time, sincethese problems will be experienced
by developed and/or developing
nations around the world, as oneof the first to experience these
problems, Japan is expected by theinternational community to play anactive role in this regard.
The “new” ICUS will continue
to have three research divisions
focusing on three research fields.
These fields derive from the ideathat urban safety environment
can be implemented by mainly
the integrated safety of disaster,
environment, and infrastructure.
The “Urban Safety and Disaster
Mitigation” division aims to
extract and resolve issues so as
to realize and sustain a safer andmore comfortable urban built
environment for people against
various kinds of hazards that affectcities, such as huge earthquakes
or urban floods due to torrential
rains, in a society characterized

by the above-mentioned societal
conditions. The “Environment
Informatics” division aims to reduce
the effects of various kinds of wideranging hazards especially where
frequent abnormal weather is being
observed. This is done to realize ahome land environment in whichpeople can coexist while enjoying
a comfortable natural environment,
and to extract and resolve issues
for sustaining such a lifestyle in asociety characterized by the abovementioned societal conditions.
Finally, the “Social InfrastructureManagement” division aims to
extract and resolve issues from thedangers that precede maturationof social infrastructure facilities
so as to maintain and preserve
the existing lifestyle of people
while considering the imbalances
typified by large maintenancemanagement expenses and public
investments, huge volume of social
infrastructure facilities and small
number of engineers.
Furthermore, the “new” ICUS
will strive to develop new research
fields which bridge the existing
three divisions. These newresearch fields include studies onenvironmentally-friendly disastermanagement systems, analysis of
the market for and development ofrecycled construction materials with

reduced environmental impacts,
and the effective management
and operation of infrastructure fordisaster mitigation,
MOVING FORWARD
Now we are looking forward toa new era of ICUS, with new goals
and horizons. To move towards thisfuture, we would like to sincerely
ask for the help and support of all
those people who have worked
with and supported us over the pastten years. It is thanks to you that
we have been able to come thisfar and make so much progress
towards improving urban safety,
but there is still much work to be
done. The rest of this newslettercontains some of the kind words,
comments, and thoughts on
ICUS’s past and how ICUS
should move ahead from different
members of the ICUS network.
We hope that we can live up to thegreat expectations and continue
to cooperate not only with ourcurrent friends and collaborators,
but also to make new friends andbuild new collaborations towards
the establishment of safer, more
comfortable, and sustainable urban
systems.
Director, Professor, ICUS

1Group photo of some ICUS students and staff

ICUS Newsletter Special Issue

Page 4

Comments and thoughts regarding ICUS’s past and futurefrom ICUS network members
Dr. Worsak Kanok-NukulchaiVice President for Resource Development, professer
Asian Institute of Technology
Bangkok, Thailand

Dr. Fan Weicheng
Director, professer Institute of Public Safety Research
Tsinghua University
Beijing, China

CONGRATULATIONS TO ICUS
ON ITS 10 YEARS OF SERVICE

I have known the activities of ICUS since 2003. In the
USMCA2003 of that year, I was honored to be invited
as a keynote speaker to introduce the fire research in
China. Many exchanges have been conducted between
ICUS and IPSR (Institute of Public Safety Research,changed in Dec. 2010 from the Center for Public Safety
Research) since that time.

On behalf of the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT),
I would like to proudly congratulate the International
Center for Urban Safety Engineering (ICUS) for having
graciously completed its first decade of operation. As apartner, AIT has enjoyed a long-term relationship withICUS by jointly operating the Regional Network Officefor Urban Safety (RNUS) at our School of Engineeringand Technology (SET) since 2002. After 9 years,
RNUS, I believe, has fulfilled its original objectives.
Most of all, it has served as a focal point for ICUS toshare urban safety experiences and technologies withother Asian countries through collaborative researchin a wide range of areas, including disaster mitigation,
infrastructure maintenance and new technology for
urban safety.
I am most delighted to learn that the University of Tokyo
has approved a 5-year funding extension for a “new”
ICUS starting from April 2011. As ICUS has becomea teenager after a decade of operation, change is very
important for its growing role and new responsibilities.
I am very confident that the new ICUS, under thegreat leadership of Professor Kimiro Meguro, will beable to identify, investigate, and resolve issues thatwill enable urban inhabitants to live prosperously andsafely. And this does not only applies to Japan, but also
in other countries through generous sharing of ICUS’s
experiences and tools. Recently we can all observe thatthe world is faced with so many challenges, such as direct
and indirect impacts of global warming, deteriorated
urban environment and the increasing natural disasters.
With our readiness to shoulder some responsibility, AITreally looks forward to working closely with ICUS and
its other partners.

ICUS Newsletter Special Issue

ICUS has highly achieved its objectives over the
past 10 years due to its comprehensive advanced
researches, symposiums and workshops, international
cooperation and active information dissemination.
ICUS contributes great achievements on the researches
and activities covering natural disasters and manmade disasters. ICUS popularizes their advanced
research and knowledge and contributes great passion
and enthusiasm to establish a successful networkof researchers, practicing engineers, emergency
managers, and decision makers in urban safety. We
benefited greatly by the ICUS efforts and activities.
It is known that urban safety problems are becoming
more complex and varied. Explaining and solving these
problems requires a multidisciplinary approach acrossa number of academic fields – not just the naturalsciences and engineering, but also the management,
humanities, and social sciences. ICUS can make great
contributions to those diverse urban safety problems.
I strongly hope ICUS will continue its success in the
future. IPSR will be a good and close supporter andpartner for the future ICUS activities.
Finally, I would like to give my great condolences forthe deaths in the March 11 earthquake and I believethat you will overcome the disasters.

Page 5

Dr. Tomonari Yashiro
Director General and Professor, Institute of Industrial Science
The University of Tokyo
Tokyo, JapanThe International Center for Urban Safety Engineering (ICUS) was established in 2001 and has made remarkableachievements over the last decade. As Director General of the Institute of Industrial Science (IIS), the University ofTokyo, I would like to express my sincere appreciation to all those who have contributed to ICUS’s activities.
IIS has the internal regulation that all research centers like ICUS have limited duration. If a center wishes to continue
part or most of its activities, the core academics are requested to submit the new work items and organization proposal
together with a evaluation report on previous activities by external reviewers. Through the tough evaluation of the
new proposal, the IIS community agreed to establish a “new” organization to enhance urban safety and international
collaboration relating to disaster prevention and mitigation.
As the majority of academics agree, the islands of Japan have entered a period of high seismic activity. The recent
East Japan Earthquake taught us how interrelated factors could amplify complicated and catastrophic phenomena
if a certain magnitude of earthquake strikes densely populated areas. Some phenomena could be predicted andtherefore prepared for to some extent. However some phenomena are beyond previous prediction. The earthquake
presented how and what we did not know. This recognition is the starting point of the development of brand new
knowledge. Contrarily, intolerant attitude like being proud, saying we know everything, or ignoring significant
scientific evidence presented by academics could bring about enormous disasters beyond the ability of contemporary
civilization to manage. The great lesson of the East Japan Earthquake is that we should be humble in our way of
thinking based on the recognition that we do not know everything. Thus, we should be open-minded to enable aninterdisciplinary and holistic approach to create effective knowledge for disaster prevention/mitigation.
The recent giant earthquake has depressed us. However, we also recognize the significance of the mission of “new”
ICUS as catalyst, facilitator and integrator of open-minded, interdisciplinary, holistic approaches with a wide rangeof and enormous varieties of academics from all over the world. It is very much appreciated if you would continue
or join the collaboration with “new” ICUS.

Dr. Tso-Chien Pan
Founding Director, Institute of Catastrophic Risk Management
Director, Protective Technology Research Centre
Nanyang Technological University, Singapore

Natural catastrophes resulting from major earthquakes, typhoons or floods have always been a challenge tothe sustainable development of urbanized regions as well as the security and safety of human societies. The
evolving nature of catastrophe risk management for megacities has been one of the reasons which prompted theestablishment of the International Center for Urban Safety Engineering (ICUS) ten years ago. It is clear that theProtective Technology Research Centre (PTRC) at the Nanyang Technological University (NTU) in Singapore
shares similar goals as ICUS in creating a safer urban environment especially for megacities in Asia. Therefore
it is a mutually beneficial arrangement that the MoU between ICUS and PTRC has been renewed for anotherfive years since March 2010. We are not only able to work together to achieve a common objective in the areasof research and education, but also to share our knowledge through outreach activities such as the International
Symposium on New Technologies for Urban Safety of Mega Cities in Asia (where Singapore hosted the 4th
Symposium in 2005). NTU has recently set up an interdisciplinary Institute of Catastrophe Risk Management(ICRM). We certainly look forward to more collaboration between NTU’s PTRC & ICRM and ICUS in the coming
five years! Congratulations to Professor Meguro for his leadership of ICUS!

ICUS Newsletter Special Issue

Page 6

Dr. Taketo Uomoto
Chief Executive, Public Works Research InstituteJapan

ICUS or International Center for Urban Safety Engineering has been working as a leading center in the fieldof urban safety engineering for more than ten years. The results of the works are highly evaluated by both theresearchers of the world and the public. I can say that ICUS is now one of the most important research centersin the world, proposing many valuable findings and leading the world related to safety aspects of urban area
especially in Asian countries. A new five years term has started with new members from this April, and I would
like to send our best wishes to all the members of ICUS with Prof. T. Meguro as the director. This March 11,
Japan has suffered tremendous damage from “East Japan Great Earthquake” and the “Tsunami” caused by theearthquake. The disaster is not settled yet due to nuclear problems of Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant. Thisdisaster is too large for ICUS alone to deal with, but I hope ICUS and the supporting organizations start toovercome the disaster by proposing practical measures from the academic side using the technologies which they
have already developed. I my self is now working as chief executive of PWRI how to recover Japan not only tosave the suffered people but also to draw a plan and reconstruct our country safe enough for all the people living
in Japan. I look forward to start the research works in collaboration with ICUS and other organizations. I hopethe success of ICUS in this field for the new term.

Dr. Kiang Hwee Tan
Professor, Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering
National University of Singapore
Singapore

The aftermath of the Great East Japan Earthquake that occurred on March 11, 2010 speaks volumes of the importanceof disaster mitigation and post-earthquake management. It was the greatest jolt that most people in Tokyo have everexperienced in their life.
I happened to be in Tokyo on that fateful day. Communication lines were down, and so were the train services. Taxi
queues were extraordinarily long, and I had to walk for three hours to get back to my hotel, just like many thousandsof people had to in order to return home. Along the way, restaurants were full and even a 24-hour shop was soldout. These were trivial matters when compared with what was happening due to the earthquake and the subsequenttsunami in Tohoku near the epicenter. But what impressed me most in my encounter was the orderliness of thepeople and the way they helped each other out. It would probably be beyond imagination if the same earthquake
was to hit an urban city like Tokyo directly. Though such a day is dreaded, and the people in Tokyo may be preparedfor such an event, this may not be so for other urban cities which have yet to witness a major earthquake. From
providing a good knowledge of what earthquakes, tsunamis and other natural hazards are and what they mightcause, to the construction and maintenance of infrastructure that would ensure minimal disruption to the social andeconomic activities of the society, we as engineers and scientists have a big role to perform. In this respect, theInternational Center for Urban Safety Engineering (ICUS) has certainly lived up to its name and objectives. Itsannual symposium has attracted high-quality presentations on policies and technologies related to hazard mitigationand management. The Center has also set up regional network offices in various countries, through which thelocals have benefited from its training programs. Its idea of using polypropylene bands in preventing masonrybuildings from collapse during an earthquake is highly notable, and the Center’s effort in imparting this economical
technology to developing countries is highly commendable.
Many lessons could be learned from the Great East Japan Earthquake, and I look forward to the Center playing aneven more important role, as a leader in ensuring the safety of urban cities not only in Japan, but also in the rest of
the world.

ICUS Newsletter Special Issue

Page 7

Dr. Sudhir Misra
Professor, Department of Civil Engineering
Indian Institute of Technology
Kanpur, India

Dr. Tsuneo Katayama
Professor
Tokyo Denki University
Tokyo, JapanI understand that the International Center for Urban
Safety Engineering (ICUS) is completing ten years ofoperation during which it took the understanding ofissues related to urban safety to a higher level. Taking
over from its predecessor, the International Centre forDisaster Mitigation Engineering (INCEDE), ICUS
worked with great energy and positive attitude topromote research in relevant areas and promoted greater
understanding and a spirit of cooperation among theprofessionals in the region. I take this opportunity to
express my thanks to all the ICUS members for theirtireless efforts.

BE HUMBLE TO THE NATURE

My association with ICUS started in its early years
when I served a term as Visiting Faculty and continued
through participation in the international conferences
organized by ICUS. ICUS provided a unified platform
for not only engineers and scientists, whose role indisaster mitigation is well understood, but added anotherdimension to the studies by including policy makers,
who are obvious stakeholders for promoting urban
safety, especially in large cities. Through initiatives
such as establishing network offices, publication of
newsletters and other documents, and international
conferences, ICUS contributed greatly to createawareness and promote research in different relevant
areas in the region. These also contributed to bringing
the professionals in the region closer.
At the end, I would only like to mention that the devastating
earthquake and tsunami in Japan in March 2011 is areminder to us all of the forces that nature can unleash
and highlights the inadequacy of our preparedness in all
forms. The threat of these natural disasters triggering
an industrial disaster of unfathomable proportions only
underlines the need for greater regional and global
cooperation and pooling of efforts in working towards asafer environment of the future. It is heartening to notethat the Institute of Industrial Science, the University ofTokyo has expressed a commitment to further the workof ICUS in the future. I wish the endeavour all successand look forward to an opportunity to be a part of thesustained effort.

A devastating disaster again occurred. This time, thedeath count mostly due to tsunami will probably bemore than 15,000. When the earthquake took place,
I was having a meeting in the center of Tokyo. The
shaking was the strongest and longest I have everexperienced. Buildings I saw from the meeting room
were visibly swaying, and it was horrible to watch atall construction crane moving back and forth justacross the street. I thought “The One” had finally
come. But, buildings in Tokyo were standing soundand intact after the shaking. I watched on TV astsunamis swallowed many towns and villages along
the Pacific coast in the Tohoku area. It was hard tobelieve that such a disaster was really taking place infront of us.
On the sixth day after the earthquake, conditions of
the damaged nuclear power plants are still serious.
They seem to be getting worse and worse every day.
According to one of my daughters, we all have enjoyedcivilized and bountiful life thanks to electricity for along time. If something should now happen to us, wewould be paying heavy compensation to what we haveenjoyed in the past. It may be true. Children outgrow
their parents. I am rather a person with no religious
belief, but now I find myself praying to God.
After the 1995 Kobe earthquake, I talked and wrote:
We the experts had been ignorant, too self-confident,
and we did not tell people what we did not know. In
one of my favorite books, a woman says to a private
detective, the protagonist of the story, “You selfsufficient, self-satisfied, self-confident, untouchable
bastard.” I feel as if I were him. Although Japan’searthquake engineering level is high, and although wehave upgraded the strength of structures, including thatof nuclear power plants, we should have continued tothink further. We should have admitted that there areso many things we still do not know.

ICUS Newsletter Special Issue

Page 8Dr. Mehedi Ahmed Ansary
Professor, Department of Civil Engineering
Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology
Dhaka, BangladeshFirst I would like to express my heartfelt condolences due to the irreparable loss in Japan due to the March 11, 2011
Magnitude 9.0 Earthquake and consequent tsunami.
INCEDE preceded ICUS. During my stay in Japan during 1993 to 1996 as a Ph.D. student in the University ofTokyo, INCEDE served as a major driving force in international cooperation in areas related to disaster mitigationengineering, disaster preparedness and field surveys especially in floods and earthquakes. ICUS started its journey in2001 with an objective to develop new technologies for safety and integrity of structures, in service maintenance andmanagement systems for infrastructures during a disaster and use of Remote Sensing in creating a safe environment.
My cooperation with ICUS started in 2006, when I was invited to work as a visiting Associate Professor there
and later in the same year ICUS established a branch office in Bangladesh – BNUS. Prof. Taketo Uomoto andProf. Kimiro Meguro played a vital role for the establishment of BNUS. Later they also played a key role in
the establishment of BUET-Japan Institute of Disaster Prevention and Urban Safety (BUET-JIDPUS) at BUET in2009. Establishment of this Institute was only possible due to the leadership of former Japanese Ambassador in
Bangladesh HE Mr. Masaki Inoue.
I hope the new ICUS will continue its previous activities and we would like to continue our international researchcollaboration with ICUS. Last of all I wish the new ICUS a happy journey to its future.

Dr. Dushmanta Dutta
Adjunct Senior Research Fellow, Monash University
Senior Hydrologist, CSIRO
Australia

It has been almost six years since I moved from ICUS to join Monash University, Australia. I was a founding
member of ICUS and I led the establishment of its first regional network office (RNUS) in Bangkok in 2003 andcoordinated the activities of RNUS for two years. In the last six years, my association with ICUS has been mainly
through my regular participation at the annual series of the international symposia on new technologies forurban safety organised by ICUS and its partners. These symposia have given me the great opportunity to update
myself on the excellent progress ICUS has made in developing new knowledge, innovative tools and technologies
for addressing the complex issues of urban safety in a wide range of important topics. The depth and breadth ofresearch and quality of outputs produced by the center has been very impressive. The impacts of research at ICUS
are clearly reflected on the outcomes generated by the projects undertaken by ICUS. The continued endeavour of
ICUS towards urban safety in Asian mega cities is highly visible in the activities of its regional network offices
in Bangkok and Dhaka.
The high population and economic growth, urban development and environmental changes in the recent decades
have been contributing to the rapid increase in the catastrophic risk from natural and man-made disasters inurban areas in many countries around the world. The recent catastrophic events in different parts of the worldclearly show that we are far behind in urban safety and risk management. There is continued need for research andtechnological development to face the challenges of managing urban risk from natural and man-made disasters
in the 21st century. I am pleased that ICUS has been extended for another five years. With the experience of over
15 years, ICUS is in the best position to address some of these challenges. I wish the ICUS team very best.

ICUS Newsletter Special Issue

Page 9Dr. Satoru Nishikawa
Director of Regional Planning
Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, & Transportation
Japan

Dr. Srikantha Herath
Academic Director, Post graduate program
Senior Academic Program Officer
Institute for Sustainability and Peace,
United Nations University

APPLICABLE INNOVATION
AND RISK COMMUNICATIONBASED ON SCIENCE- THE CRUCIAL ROLE OF ICUS -It is my great pleasure to have an opportunity to senda congratulatory message to ICUS on the occasion of
its new 5-year term. I had the privilege of contributing
to global disaster risk reduction program through
INCEDE, the predecessor to ICUS, in the ‘90s. In
recent times I have observed with admiration the
expansion of ICUS activities, not only in Japan but
also in Asia through its offices at AIT, Bangkok and
BUET, Bangladesh. I am also very much thankful tocontributions of ICUS to the United Nations University
programs, through Professor Meguro and his staff.
INCEDE and ICUS have always been in the forefrontof disaster risk reduction efforts of the world looking
for innovative solutions.

There are many aspects for which ICUS deserves
appraisal. I would like to highlight two of them.
First is applicable innovation. The modern scienceand technology provides us with numerous fantastic
methods to reduce risk and upgrade safety. But in real
life, there is always the big bottleneck; application
to common life, be it in Japan or be it in developing
countries. No matter how the technologies areinnovative, unless they are applied, they only serveas nice displays on the showcase. ICUS has rightly
focused on this aspect and has provided applicable
solutions. The affordable PP-band seismic retrofitting
is a very good example for the case of vulnerable
masonry houses.
Second is risk communication. It is human nature
to underestimate or neglect the actual risks they
are facing. On the other hand, modern science andtechnology enables us to quantify these risks. How tofill the gap between the two is the challenge. ICUS
has developed various methods to address this crucial
gap. From various computerized graphic simulation
to picture books, ICUS has developed effective
risk communication methods which were greatly
appreciated by a wide range of people.

Now, more than ever, this pioneering spirit is called
into action. The catastrophic Tohoku disaster has
shown clearly the extent of losses our modern
societies could suffer from complex multi-hazards
when hazard intensities go beyond our assessments.
With expected increase of weather-related events
intensities due to climate change, mitigating losses
from extremes that go beyond assessments demands
immediate and urgent attention. ICUS with its large
network of disaster specialists around the world andtwo decades of experiences behind is well equipped totake up these new challenges. I wish the ‘new’ ICUS
every success in their mission to develop effective
disaster risk reduction solutions to make the world asafer place for all of us.

For the next stage of ICUS, I look forward to be
exposed to more of the ICUS outputs with thesecharacteristics.

ICUS Newsletter Special Issue

Page 10

Dr. Pennung Warnitchai
Associate Professor, School of Civil Engineering
Asian Institute of Technology
Bangkok, Thailand

Dr. Sodnomsambuu Demberel
Scientific Secretary, Research Center of Astronomy& Geophysics, Mongolian Academy of Sciences
Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

It was like yesterday when I first heard about ICUS
and its plan to collaborate with AIT in setting up a
Regional Network Office for Urban Safety (RNUS)
at the School of Engineering and Technology of AIT.
Now already nine years have passed, and so many
active and capable research scientists and engineers
have been dispatched from ICUS to work at RNUS.

It was a great pleasure for me to hear that after ten years
of productive and efficient work, the International Centerfor Urban Safety Engineering (ICUS) will be supportedwith 5-year funding. I would like emphasize that it isalso a support for us, for the research organizations
from developing countries, because ICUS research andtechnical activities with us on seismic risk mitigation field
and a transfer of new knowledge, skills and experience todeveloping countries is extremely important and usefulfor the development of safer urban environment in thesecountries. It is a fact that the developing countries areaffected relatively more seriously by strong earthquakes
than developed countries. Clearly, we need to make
improvements in our preparedness for earthquakes andto learn from developed countries like Japan how they
have developed urban safety engineering including themaintenance and management of infrastructures. ICUS
activities over the past ten years are a good example offruitful and multi beneficial international cooperation
on seismic risk reduction in Asia and in the World.

The idea of RNUS has proved to work wonderfully
well. The RNUS researchers have made significant
contributions to urban safety engineering throughnumerous collaborative research projects, seminars,
symposia and publications. At the same time, they
have gained more understanding about various‘problems’ and ‘conditions’ in Asia. I myself also
have had several opportunities to closely work withsome of them.
As a ‘new’ ICUS will begin very soon, it may be theright time to look back into all activities of ICUS,
RNUS, and other associated centers (BNUS, etc.) in thepast and find out which ones really ‘work’ and which
ones don’t. Based on this review, it might be possible
to identify just a few key activities to concentrate our
future efforts on. The selected activities should be
associated with long-term, ambitious (but achievable)
noble goals, which can be clearly defined by expected
outputs and outcomes. It might take time to find suchgoals. But if the goals are explicitly defined and areagreeable by ICUS family members, I believe they
will help shape the future of ICUS into something that
produces more impacts to ‘Urban Safety’. This is justa suggestion from a friend of ICUS.

ICUS Newsletter Special Issue“The National Program on Seismic Risk Mitigationin Mongolia” (2009) and “the National Action Plan
on Earthquake Disaster Reduction“ (2010) wereadopted by the Government of Mongolia as important
outcomes of the Asian Science and Technology Forumon the mitigation of earthquake disasters in Mongolia
which was organized in Ulaanbaatar by Japanese andMongolian scientists. In the conjunction of recent seismic
activities in the active faults near Ulaanbaatar city it is
crucial important for the Government of Mongolia todevelop and enhance the scientific, technical and public
activities on the seismic risk mitigation field.
We are looking forward our collaboration with ICUS
for the development of safety of urban infrastructurefrom strong earthquakes and other natural disasters in
Mongolia. We believe that an international scientificand technical cooperation is one of the key factors on
the seismic hazard reduction in the world, especially inthe developing countries.

Page 11

Ms. Yuki Matsuoka
Head, United Nations International Strategy
for Disaster Reduction
Hyogo Office, Kobe, Japan

We would like to congratulate ICUS on its renewal from April 2011, building on the ten-year accumulation ofuniversal knowledge and state-of-the-art technologies.
At the UN World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction held in Kobe in 2005, “Hyogo Framework for Action 20052015: Building the Resilience of Nations and Communities to Disasters” (HFA) was adopted as the global policy
guideline on disaster risk reduction. In the context of promoting the implementation of the HFA, UNISDR has beencollaborating with ICUS to advance expertise and disseminate the knowledge, technologies and lessons learnt in
the area of urban environment and risk reduction.
Today, cities are growing bigger and faster than ever in human history and hold over 50 percent of the global
population. They are centers of technology, innovation, economic growth and culture – people want to live in cities
and be part of modern life. On the other hand, cities are at high risk because of their rapid growth and high pressure
on infrastructure with which lots of governments cannot even keep up. Cities are often lying in the coastal areas or
built on the seismic fault lines; therefore, they are exposed vulnerably to multiple natural hazards.
As a member of the Asian Regional Task Force on Urban Risk Reduction (RTF-URR) which is facilitated by UNISDR
as one of the thematic platforms of the ISDR system, ICUS has been contributing to the ISDR Global Campaign“Making Cities Resilient: My City is Getting Ready!” In particular, it organized the annual international symposium
on “New Technologies for Urban Safety and Mega Cities in Asia” on the International Day for Disaster Reduction,
13 October on 2010, to call partners all over the world for joining us to reduce urban disaster risk. We trust thatthe new ICUS will continue its great contribution to urban risk reduction in Asia and the world. We look forward tofurthering our collaboration with ICUS.

ICUS members over the years

2001-2002

2002-2003

2003-2004

2004-2005

2005-2006

2006-2007

2007-2008

2008-20092009-2010

ICUS Newsletter Special Issue

Page 12
Editor’s Note
First, I would like to thank all
those who contributed and shared
their thoughts and past experienceswith the “old” ICUS. Due in part totheir continual support over the lastten years, ICUS was able to receivea very positive evaluation from theExternal Evaluation Committee.
From these past results, the Instituteof Industrial Science, the Universityof Tokyo, approved the extension of
ICUS and its activities for another 5
years. We hope that this “new” ICUS
will be able to receive and enjoy thesame level of support and friendshipthat the “old” ICUS did, and we will

work to continue conducting research
activities at the highest level towards
urban safety into the future.
As most of you know, on May 11,2011, a huge earthquake of Mw9.0
struck the eastern region of Japan.
Very strong and long duration
ground motions were observed overa large area in Japan. Damage toinfrastructure, buildings, and houses
due to ground motion, fires, andground failure including land slideand liquefaction were also observed.
However, the most serious damage
was due to the killer tsunami inducedby the Mw9.0 gigantic earthquake.
The unprecedented tsunami resulted
in huge damage up and down the

coast of Tohoku and in the Kanto
region, including nuclear power
plants.
This damage is still affecting
people across Japan even today,
weeks after the occurrence of theearthquake, and I wish to express
our deepest sympathies to all thevictims and affected people. As auniversity research organization,
ICUS will work its hardest to support
and contribute to the recovery of theaffected areas towards improving
and protecting people’s lives andlivelihoods and ensuring a safer
society for future generations.
(by K. Meguro)