In the wake of any big event there’s always an anticlimax. All that preparation, stress, exhilaration… then it’s all over, leaving (hopefully) good memories, but also an aching void. Will this be the case for Shanghai when the much-vaunted 2010 Expo finishes? The city has been gearing up for the event since the start of the millennium, so how will life be when the show is over? Will the pavilions lie empty after October 31st? Will the millions of

Haibaos

be exiled to wherever old Expo mascots are exiled?

 

Photo: stefano meneghetti

A city that knows how Shanghai will feel is elder sister Beijing. The capital had its season in the sun last year with the Olympics, and the way it dealt with both the events and the aftermath can be a lesson to Shanghai.

President of the Olympic Committee Jacques Rogge said (somewhat ominously) that since the 2008 Olympics, the world now knows more about China, and China now knows more about the world. The Shanghai Expo will raise China’s profile even higher on a world scale, and is likely to attract more visitors for tourism and business. Directly after the Olympics, Beijing saw a 20% rise in tourists, bringing 127.1 billion RMB in revenue, up 14.6% from before the Games. The majority of these visitors were actually Chinese natives, suggesting that national pride was swelling, but in 2009 the number of foreign tourists has gone up despite the recession. China is firmly on the map as a tourist destination these days, mainly thanks to the Games.

One of the main problems facing Beijing throughout the Olympics was pollution. At first glance, it looked like the city papered over the cracks – directing pollution clouds away from the city, restricting traffic, and closing factories, only to re-open them when the Games were over. But it seems that Beijing isn’t completely ignoring environmental concerns. There has been talk of re-instating the traffic restrictions (in which cars with odd- and even-numbered license plates would be allowed on the roads on different days) since a public survey showed 56.62% of people would like to see the scheme brought back. The 28km light railway system took Beijing’s metro up to 200km in length, meaning that 35% of people now commute using public transport. Beijing aims to increase this figure by 10% over the next few years.

The Shanghai Expo comes up trumps where green issues are concerned. It might not look like an environmentally aware city, but the theme of the Expo is “Better City, Better Life” and it includes a green agenda. With this Expo set to be the biggest in history, it’s the perfect platform for Shanghai to quell criticism about its environmental habits. Since preparations began in the year 2000, Shanghai had tripled its eco-spending to 42 billion RMB, and the Expo will provide the city with three huge new parks in Pudong. Effort has been made to build them using sustainable resources, so new structures will be eco-friendly, like Beijing’s Bird’s Nest stadium which use 70% recycled water, and the aquatic centre which runs partly on solar power.

Since the first World Fair in London in 1851, expos have brought a new lease of life to their host cities, and often changed their skylines. The 1889 Paris Expo bequeathed the Eiffel Tower, and Seattle 1962 gave rise to the now-iconic Space Needle. Economically, too, expos provide a boost of wealth – the Chicago show of 1933 is credited for helping America overcome the Great Depression. Modern expos have provided business facilities and tourist attractions, like the pavilion built for the 2000 Hanover Expo which now attracts over 25,000 exhibitors.
So will 2010 really change Shanghai for the better?

Where facilities are concerned, it certainly will. The Expo Village will be converted into an accommodation complex for the inevitable influx of visitors in years to come. There will be a five star hotel and three budget lodges, providing a total of 7,000 new beds. The new space will put Shanghai alongside other international cities for exhibitions and conferences, bringing its capacity to 600,000 square metres. The main hub of the event will be the Expo Center, and this will be converted into an international conference centre with banquet halls and media areas. Organisations have already booked it out for events. The snappily-named Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference will take place there in January 2011, as well as the Shanghai People’s Congress meeting. The Expo Boulevard will become a shopping street.

As for the rest of the city, benefits will include an extended Metro system, new electric and hybrid buses, an effort to improve waste disposal, and cuts in non-renewable energy use.

China loves big events, and it pulls them off impressively. The recent 60th Anniversary Parade was a mind-boggling exercise in organisation, synchronicity and – that old buzzword – harmony. Like the Olympics, the parade swelled national pride and attracted the world’s attention, and next year’s Expo is set to do the same. The event’s success will be measured by Shanghai’s ability to put this attention (and the money that will follow) to good use.

Special Topic: Expo 2010 Shanghai - Updated Information on Events, Pavilions, Ticket Prices and More

 

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