From 1978 to 1980 the Joint Committee on Latin American Studies of the American Council of Learned Societies and the Social Science Research Council (SSRC), using funds granted to the committee by the Tinker Foundation, sponsored a Working Group on Latin American Urbanization and Urban Research. During that period the group held two three-day seminars, the first in London in February 1978, and the second in Carmel, California, 31 March-2 April 1980. Both meetings, as well as the interim activities of the group, were planned and coordinated by Jorge Hardoy (Centro de Estudios Urbanos y Regionales, Buenos Aires) and Alejandro Portes (The Johns Hopkins University), in conjunction with SSRC staff. The intention was to unite established scholars from a variety of countries in a context that would encourage collaborative research projects, sharing both substantive focus and conceptual perspectives. The original group included Henry Coing, Wayne Cornelius, Jorge Hardoy, Larissa Lomnitz, Alejandro Portes, Bryan Roberts, Paul Singer, John Walton, and Oscar Yujnovsky.