Expo to break all records
China is getting ready for Expo 2010. This prestigious global exposition offers the country an opportunity to show itself as a modern and economically strong power.
China wants to show that it is a premier-league player – in every discipline. After the Summer Olympics in Beijing in 2008, this is the second major event in a very short time. And the central government will stop at nothing less than hosting the largest world fair of all time. A total of 70 million visitors are expected, 3.5 million of them from abroad. The previous record of 68 million visitors was set in 1970 when Expo was hosted by the Japanese city of Osaka. And China wants to set a new record with the number of participants, too. Its aim was 220, but at the last count 242 international organisations and countries had pledged their participation.
Even the expo site straddling both sides of the Huangpu River in the city centre of Shanghai with its 5.28 km² claims to be the largest ever. 3.93 km² of the area lies in the district of Pudong, east of the river, and 1.35 km² in Puxi. Currently, the site is without doubt one of the largest building sites in the world with 1.5 million m² under construction.
But Shanghai does not want to impress by the sheer size of the event alone. The international expo with its slogan “Better City, Better Life” is making the case for sustainability. In keeping with the motto, cities will be participating in the world fair for the first time, either with their own pavilion, such as Hamburg, or with exhibitions in one of the halls in the Urban Best Practices Area.
The infrastructure of the 18-million-strong metropolis is being given special attention and invested in heavily for the Expo. Six new urban railways and 200 new stations are being built. The road network is being expanded, 400 hotels are being renovated and a further 300 constructed.
The Expo will seek to present a new China. To make space for it, an old district of Shanghai had to be completely demolished. Before construction work started in August 2006, the site was home to industrial plants, shipyards, warehouses and workers settlements. 18,000 families had to be relocated to make way for the development.
Several of the buildings to be constructed for the Expo are to be retained and not demolished. The entire Expo site is to be developed into the first “green lung” of the city and provide its inhabitants with a recreational area. “Unlike European cities, Shanghai has no vast green spaces such as Berlin's Tiergarten or Cologne's green belt”, explains Marion Conrady, press officer of the German pavilion at Kölnmesse. Kölnmesse has been charged with the preparation, execution and follow-up work of the German appearance.
“Environmental themes are being used to promote every construction site that is related to the Expo in Shanghai at the moment. The topic is firmly lodged in people's minds and they now expect changes.” It remains to be seen how much really changes in the long term after the World Expo closes its doors on October 31, 2010. akm
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