The organizers of the 2010 Shanghai World Expo yesterday
announced they will invite cities from around the world to display
their greatest features at the Urban Best Practice Area, an
original project to be launched at the fair.
Inspired by the expo's theme "Better city, better life", the
Urban Best Practice Area (UBPA) will provide space for 30 cities
from the Chinese mainland and overseas to display their
achievements in urban development. The expo's organizer expects the
UBPA project to demonstrate different kinds of "widely
acknowledged, innovative and valuable practices carried out by
high-profile global cities".
"The area will also provide a platform for these cities to
exchange ideas about urbanization," said Zhou Hanmin, deputy
director of the Bureau of Shanghai World Expo Coordination.
He said his bureau would propose a list of cities and their
accomplishments at the start of the recruitment drive. In the
meantime, individual cities from around the world can also submit
proposals to the expo's organizer in order to take part in the UBPA
exhibition.
An International Selection Committee has also been set up to
review and evaluate proposals for the UBPA project. The committee
is headed up by the executive director of UN-HABITAT, Anna Kajumulo
Tibaijuka, and the secretary-general of the Bureau International
des Expositions, Vicente Gonzalez Loscertales. The committee
consists of nearly 20 members from a number of organizations,
including the UNEP (United Nations Environment Program), UNDP
(United Nations Development Program), UNESCO, World Bank, Asian
Development Bank and relevant authorities from the Chinese
government. The members of the International Selection Committee
and some other international organizations will be able to add
cities to the candidates' list.
After the committee finishes its preliminary review, the expo's
organizer will send solicitation letters to qualified cities by the
end of September. Participants will have to submit exhibition plans
by November, and then the International Selection Committee will
make the final decision and issue official invitation letters at
the end of this year, according to expo's organizers. The entire
recruitment process will wrap up in April 2008, when city
participants and the expo's organizers sign the final contract.
City participants or their sponsors will have to shoulder the
cost of the exhibitions and related construction.
The UBPA project will be located in Puxi, east of the expo
site.
Bai Wenhua, president of Shanghai World Expo Land Holding
Corporation, said the UBPA venue would be divided into two parts,
covering a combined area of 15.12 hectares. Old factory buildings
and facilities within the area will be renovated to provide space
for pavilions to accommodate the exhibition. A simulated community
made up of living, working and leisure areas will be built to the
north. It will also include a waterscape and an infrastructure
display.
"The city's practices will be integrated and presented in many
different ways. The UBPA will be an exhibition area as well as an
exhibit itself," said Bai.
The UBPA project will touch on issues including "livable
cities", sustainable urbanization, the protection and utilization
of historic sites and technological innovation.
"Cities like London, Liverpool, Hamburg and Venice have
contacted us and have shown an interest in participating in the
UBPA project prior to the recruitment," said Bai.
(China Daily May 15, 2007)