Concerned about future development and environmental problems generated by major metropolitan areas of the Pacific Basin, international experts will gather Oct. 26-30 in San Francisco for a four-day conference called "Supercities: Environmental Quality and Sustainable Development." The conference, to be held at San Francisco State University's guest center, is sponsored by the Pacific Basin Study Center, recently formed by San Francisco State University and UC Davis. Conference participants representing universities, government, industry and nongovernmental organizations will discuss environmental issues such as air and water quality, waste and toxic management, transportation and land-use management. Among the featured cities are San Francisco, Los Angeles, Tokyo, Mexico City and Beijing. "We'd like to build partnerships that help solve problems in supercities while recognizing their link to the global environment," says Joseph Knox, conference co-organizer and director of the UC Davis-based National Institute for Global Environmental Change.