This book has been several years in the making. It has grown out of basic areas of inquiry begun under the auspices of the Alliance for Global Sustainability in the late 1990s, and has culminated with a series of on-site, collaborative studies conducted through AGS in cooperation with of?cials in Guangzhou, People s Republic of China (PRC), during the early 2000s. Many individuals have made important contributions to the ideas, ?ndings, and results that have been compiled in this volume. The authors wish to recognize these signi?cant contributions below. The Alliance for Global Sustainability...