Expo will showcase hard challenges of urbanization
- Source: Global Times
- [22:14 April 27 2010]
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Wu Jianmin
Editor's note:
The long-anticipated 2010 World Expo is about to roll back the curtain in Shanghai Saturday. What does this century-old institution have to offer the modern world? What does it mean to host a World Expo in an era of globalization? What are the challenges?
The following is an interview between the Qiangguo Forum of People. com.cn (PO) and Wu Jianmin (Wu), the honorary chairman of the Bureau of International Expositions and former ambassador to France, on the challenges and opportunities that come with the 2010 World Expo.
PO: The World Expo is an opportunity for developing countries to show the world their progress. Do you think we are ready for this opportunity?
Wu: I think there are two kinds of challenges that we are facing now. The first is the challenge of urbanization. At the time China had just started to open up to the rest of the world in the late 1970s, only about 17 percent of its population lived in cities, and now the number is 47 percent.
In the coming 25 to 30 years, Chinese cities will develop at even faster speeds. This is not only a big challenge for China, but also for the world, as it is a worldwide trend.
The total population of developing countries is now over 3.3 billion. In the process of development, industrialization and urbanization go hand-in-hand. Urbanization offers people a better life, which coincides with the theme of the 2010 World Expo.
The 2010 World Expo provides us a great chance to observe the lifestyles and ideas of 152 countries and regions together with 50 international organizations. We then can learn from their successes as well as their mistakes. If we can find better ways for development from this 2010 World Expo, it would be the biggest achievement of all.
The second challenge is living a low-carbon lifestyle. The 2010 World Expo catches the trend of three revolutions: the revolution of using new energy, of updating industrial development and of new lifestyle. The focus of these three revolutions all lies in the cities.
There are not enough resources for the 3.3 billion people to progress using the same development patterns as the developed countries did in the past, and the changes are inevitable.
Climate change urges us to take a second look at the old development model, and pushes forward the development of alternative energy. This will be a major change for humanity.
PO: A few years ago, you commented, "The World Expo is all about culture." How do you think Shanghai should present its local culture and the Chinese culture at the coming event?
Wu: To discuss this, we must understand that the World Expo is not a trade fair but a platform for people to communicate ideas. The ideas come from different cultural backgrounds.
Therefore you can see the culture of different countries from their pavilions in the World Expo. While Chinese culture has already contributed a lot to world heritage, I think it will also win applause during the Expo.
Chinese culture has always been open to all kinds of enrichment. Our recent history also proves the necessity of keeping an open attitude. We should be more confident in presenting the essence of our heritage and culture. The 2010 World Expo gives us a chance.
I visited Suzhou in Jiangsu Province a few days ago and found it impressive. Suzhou was founded in 514 BC, when it was designed by Wu Zixu (died 484 BC), a great strategist of the Spring and Autumn Period (770 BC - 476 BC). His key idea was to combine water and land by building channels inside the city as well as pedestrian streets. If we consider Suzhou's abundant rivers, it still works today.
The modern cities should also keep our cultural heritage with us. The World Expo gives us a chance to visit Shanghai as well as the Yangtze River delta including Suzhou. By visiting there, we should be able to see the trace of development in this 2,524-year-old city.
Shanghai hosts the World Expo at the right time. With an estimated 70 million visitors, 5 percent of them non- Chinese, people will see the changes in this great city. The focus of international relations is shifting from Europe to Asia, where the most vigorous economic models are located. By hosting the 2010 World Expo, we present China not only as a strong economic power, but also a cultural place.
