Kitakyushu Convention Planning Guide "Model Environment City"

World leader in Environmental Restoration

The conquest of serious environmental problems and the accumulation of technology
The Kitakyushu industrial district, since the 1901 establishment of the Yawata Steel Works, steadily supported the rapid growth of Japan which by the 1960s brought about serious environmental pollution. As a result of the city residents, businesses, universities, research institutions, and administration joining together and having dealt with the environmental pollution problem, the environment of the city was greatly improved and at the same time valuable experience, research results and technology related to environmental problems was accumulated.

Over 100 types of marine products have been revived in Dokai Bay that was once called the "Sea of Death". And, the "grey colored sky" has been improved to the point of being designated the "City of Bright Stars" by the Ministry of the Environment.

International Environmental Cooperation; the path towards Sustainable Development

The accumulated research results and technology are helpful in the improvement of the environmental problems of various Asian countries and in the practice of "Sustainable Development". Besides implementing an international environmental cooperation project by means the "Environmental Cooperation Network of Asian Cities" in which seven cities from four Southeast Asian countries participate and the "Pan-Yellow Sea Cities Conference" which is formed of ten cities in Japan, China and South Korea, over 200 businesses and related groups cooperate in the Kitakyushu International Techno-cooperative Association (KITA) and are carrying out technical cooperation such as receiving the researchers of various Asian countries and dispatching experts.

Main History
1970	Agreement on Pollution Prevention
1972	Pollution Prevention Agreement (54 companies)
1973	Factory Greenery Agreement (37 companies) Implement a system to aid the patients suffering from environmental pollution
1980	KITA (Kitakyushu International Techno-cooperative Association) established
1990	Awarded the United Nations Environment Program "Global 500" prize
1992	Awarded UNCED Local Government Honours (Earth Summit)
1996	ODA selected the "Dalian Environmental Demonstration Zone Plan"
1997	Kitakyushu Conference on Environmental Cooperation Among Cities in the Asian Region "Kitakyushu Eco-town Plan" approved
2000	ESCAP Conference of Cabinet Ministers related to the environment and development "The Kitakyushu Initiative" for a Clean Environment adopted "The Environmental Museum of Water" opened
2001	The Kitakyushu Initiative First Network Conference "Basic Plan for the Treatment of Ordinary Waste" decided on

Kitakyushu Eco-Town Project
A project based on the "Kitakyushu Eco-Town Plan" which has received national approval is being promoted to convert and reconstruct the industrial structure that is the "mass production, mass consumption, mass abandonment" which modern society embraces in order to aim at a "a resource-cycling society".
At the "Kitakyushu Eco-Town" comprehensive measures are being carried out from research and development to commercialization in the "The Practical Research Area" that carries out technical development, the "Comprehensive Environmental Industrial Area" that encourages commercialization, and the "Hibiki Recycling Complex" for the purpose of supporting small and medium enterprises. And, in 2003 a wind power electricity generating plant was constructed that has Japan's largest power output (15,000 kw/h) for a large city suburb.