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NEWS
Shanghai World Expo 2010: Better City, Better Life
August 24, 2009
Next year the world’s focus will move again to China, but this time it will be centered on Shanghai instead of Beijing. The 2010 World Expo will be held in Shanghai from May through October. The city is now in the process of getting ready for the event.
Historically, World Expos, more commonly known as a World Fair, have been around since the mid-19th century with the first held in London. They are essentially forums to present technological advancements, cultural learning, and express our hopes for the future. Next year’s theme touches on a subject that is now on the minds of people everywhere: the urban environment.
This is a fitting theme for the locale, as Shanghai is a global city and the financial center of China. Over the past several years China has experienced a boom in urbanization that has thrust it to the global spotlight.
The World Bank estimates that by 2015 60% of the country’s population will reside in urban areas. The Expo recognizes this by centering its theme on the growth of cities and what it means for the future.
Rapid urbanization presents many challenges for city leaders to provide high quality infrastructure to support an ever increasing population. Organizers of the event hope to introduce new blueprints for future cities and urban lifestyles to educate people about urban life in the future.
World Expos are also characterized by the architecture they leave behind. The Eiffel Tower in Paris and Seattle’s Space Needle are all remnants of past World Expos and have become the defining emblem of each city’s skyline.
When the festivities were held in Chicago in 1893 Daniel Burnham and Fredrick Law Olmstead planned the fair grounds and designed the buildings in a Beaux-Arts style, incorporating Victorian principles into the design that were popular at the time.
Next year Shanghai the Expo will be organized in a series of pavilions that will be housed in cutting edge structures which will be designed based on the focus of their exhibitions.
The city is living up to the World Expo theme by taking steps to clean up Shanghai for the event. The nine areas of focus, air quality, transport, energy, solid waste, water, green coverage, protected areas, climate neutrality, have been praised by the United Nations Environment Program. The city has installed air pollution monitoring stations throughout its borders, enhanced public transportation networks, and taken measures to reduce sulfur dioxide.
Article by: Eleni Glekas
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