Shanghai 2010 World Expo – The Biggest Show You Never Heard Of

I am now the head copywriter, “keeper of the voice” for a high-tech corporate Pavilion at the Shanghai 2010 World Expo.

It’s a fascinating assignment for a myriad of reasons – one of which is that the World Expo is one of the better kept secrets in America.

The Expo is set to open May 1st (see what I mean about a secret) and will run through October 31st, 2010.

The projected attendance is 70 million people – which works out to an average of 400,000 people a day.

The Expo is being built in the center of Shanghai, on both sides of the Huangpu River. The site is 5.25 square kilomenters and is divided into five major areas.

The Urban Best Practice area and Corporate Pavilions are North of the river. The National Pavilions, Theme Pavilions, Chinese Pavilions and International Organisations Pavilions are South of the river.

Better City, Better Life

The theme of the Expo is Better City, Better Life.

The theme “represents a central concern of the international community for future policy making, urban strategies and sustainable development. In 1800, 2% of the global population lived in cities… by 2010, as estimated by the United Nations, the urban population will account for 55% of the total human population.”

Here’s the thing. By 2050, some 6.5 billion of the worlds projected population of 9.2 billion – some 2 billion more then we are today – will live in cities. Learning how to plan, build and manage these cities to provide housing, employment, education and health services for everyone without destroying the planet is an enormous undertaking.

The theme is also a nod to Shanghai’s place as China’s most modern city, and its role as China’s gateway to the world… I am also told that the Expo is part of an unending rivalry between Shanghai and Beijing. Apparently the none-too hidden agenda here is to one-up the 2008 Olympic Games!

A Design Feast

As you would expect, the architecture is spectacular – representing that magical combination of dream assignment and national pride for the top architectural firms around the world. With the growing international emphasis on sustainability, many of the pavilions are being built to varying degrees of greeness. (This is a rendering of the UK Pavilion)

Shanghai is doing a lot more then that – they are aggressively laying the foundation for the redevelopment of the city.

Six cross-river tunnels have been built to connect the two sides. The site will also be served by five rail lines. And about ten percent of the daily visitors will arrive on the river through specially constructed “Water Gates”.

Definitely worth spending a few minutes in Google images to see what’s going on. I would imagine that we will see the influence of this for many years to come. I’m hoping to post from the epicenter before too long.

Are you planning to go to the Shanghai 2010 World Expo?

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Tagged as: Sustainable development