Lifestyle

From May 1 to October 31, the world will meet in pursuit of a shared future at Shanghai's "Better City, Better Life" World Expo. During the 184-day exhibition period, people hailing from across the globe will explore issues of urbanization and urban development models for the future.

The Chinese Government will have invested 28.6 billion yuan ($4.19 billion) in the Expo by the time it closes next fall. A huge amount of money has been put into overhauling Shanghai's transportation infrastructure, thousands of people and businesses have relocated over the course of Expo construction, and 70,000 volunteers have been picked from a pool of more than half a million applicants for on-site help during the event itself.

A total of 192 countries, 18 corporations and over 50 international organizations have confirmed their participation. China's 31 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities, along with Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, are also taking part. Around 70 million visitors are expected, all hoping to experience first-hand the future of urbanization.

The dream of a better life is universal, and the Shanghai Expo, with its theme of "Better City, Better Life," is about sharing ideas, promoting progress in science and technology and improving lives.

Over the course of its 159-year history, the world expo has constantly evolved. Its new innovation this year is the Urban Best Practices Area (UBPA). The complex, which houses interactive exhibitions on future possibilities for urban life in the years to come, is also a global stage for cities from around the world to propose solutions to urban problems.

Fifty-five cities spread across five continents have been selected from 100 applicants to showcase their initiatives addressing issues ranging from pollution to overpopulation and traffic congestion. These "city diseases" detract from the positives of fast economic growth in urban centers, and improving denizens' quality of life is an urgent task. Sun Liansheng, Director of the UBPA Department of the Bureau of Shanghai World Expo Coordination, explained that the cities chosen "are either those [which have] already implemented [proposals] or those with great potential for application."

Proposals have been arranged into four exhibition spaces at the UBPA. Covering an area larger than 15 hectares, "Livable Cities," "Sustainable Urbanization," "Protection and Utilization of Historical Heritage" and "Technological Innovation in Built Environments," will all feature multimedia displays, lectures and seminars throughout the Expo's six-month run.

"We hope the exhibition will build up confidence, and present the public the future direction of urban development. Hopefully, it will be inspiring for cities at different development levels," said Sun.

The French National Institute for Demographic Studies (INED) recently released a report on future urban demographics. According to its data, 3.3 billion people – over half the world's population – reside in cities. However, the majority of people in Africa and Asia still live in rural areas. Urbanization trends will change this: By 2030, it is predicted that these two continents will be home to more city dwellers than anywhere else in the world.

The UBPA is a forum where this shift and its significance can be discussed. "Hopefully," said Anna Kajumulo Tibaijuka, Under-Secretary General of the United Nations and Executive Director of UN-HABITAT, "the UBPA will become an encyclopedia for visitors, participating cities and organizers to share ideas and practices, and to realize the aim of sustainable urbanization."

At the world's first Expo in London, 1851, a spectacular Industrial Age future captivated all who passed through the doors of the Great Exhibition's Crystal Palace. The plans unveiled at the UBPA in Shanghai will be no less spectacular – but they will be cleaner and more eco-friendly.

Novel ideas on display include city-run car pooling, smart computer-controlled curtains outfitted with hundreds of sensors to collect sunshine in winter, and zero-emission cars transporting produce from organic farms at the city's outskirts right to your front door. Dinners cooked on low-power stoves and edible-plate desserts (made of cookies and fruit) will be all the rage in years to come.

The future is not just about sustainability, but comfort and convenience as well. Alongside UBPA designs for plant-covered roofs and smart faucets are blueprints for 3D televisions and modifiable walls that children can draw on without the fear of upsetting mom and dad. Other proposals on site include smart cards for use at home, work and everywhere in between, and robot housekeepers intelligent enough to take care of you during illness.

"Some people say that the UBPA depicts our dreams of the future, but I don't think so. Some technologies are already in use, and [I think] they will be widely applied in the near future," said Zhang Songping, a taxi driver in Shanghai.

Zhang, who lives in an ex-industrial area of the city, feels the changes Shanghai has undergone over the past few years, which have left their mark.

According to Zhang, industrial soot emitted from plants' chimneys has reduced dramatically and the sky is bluer. Thanks to the construction of more subway lines, promotional campaigns in favor of bicycle use and restrictions on car use, there are less traffic jams, which helps his business.

Zhang wants to buy a gasoline-electric hybrid car used at the Expo site. Though it costs 200,000 yuan ($29,282.58) – twice as expensive as his present car – its fuel consumption is 30 percent less than his current vehicle. "It's cost-effective in the long run," he said.

The government should promote new technologies, [and] people will fully realize the benefits of energy-saving products as they use them," Zhang added.

If there is still a gap between a "better life" and the world's current reality, people's attitudes, government policy and technology will play key roles in bridging it.

Initially, the UBPA recruited proposal submissions though the Internet. From there, the media picked up the story and applications began to flood in. Western countries responded actively, while inside China, the response was higher from coastal areas than inland areas, which are less developed.

"This is [an issue] of mindset," said Sun, regarding the mixed input. "Mindset plays a decisive role in how a nation demonstrates itself on the world stage, and how it integrates into the world and globalization."

When it came to selecting proposals for the UBPA, a major criterion was an idea's applicability potential. Sun explained this meant the cost of a chosen project couldn't be too high. These low-cost proposals may be applied in China, most likely in the developed coastal regions.

"We cannot copy all the proposals, but we can learn from those that fit local economic development needs. The government should guide and encourage local regions to implement [them]. Then our pace of building an eco-friendly and energy-saving society will be faster," said Sun.

The Shanghai East Sea Bridge Offshore Wind Farm is starting operations before the Expo begins, opening a new chapter in China's push toward green power.

According to estimates from Chinese and American scientists, by 2030, wind power will satisfy China's increasing energy demands. Zhang Yong, a researcher at the Strategy Department of Yunnan Power Grid Corp., holds a different view.

"Wind power is the trend, but it is impractical for China to solely rely on wind power in the upcoming decades. It cannot be widely applied due to many problems," he said.

In Zhang's opinion, the biggest difficulty lies in power grid technology. "[If] the technology is not mature enough, unstable wind flow will disturb the balance of the entire power system," he explained.

Huge initial investment costs are another difficulty. "At present, the average construction cost for a wind power plant of a 1-KW installed capacity is 9,000 yuan ($1,317.72), while that for a thermal power plant of the same capacity is 4,000-5,000 yuan ($585.7-732.1)," Zhang explained.

On July 1, 2009, China's State Electricity Regulatory Commission (SERC) published its official China Wind Power Report. According to the report, because of problems with wind electric output, the wind farms did not run very well. Due to profit considerations, conventional energy is still the first choice for Chinese companies.

Change is in the future, though. "The energy structure cannot be changed in a short period of time, but clean energy will be further developed and lead the next round of economic boom. It's an irreversible trend," said Zhang.

"Many of the energy-saving and green technologies used to build expo venues can applied to a low-carbon society. But as an architect, I prefer using intuition to design energy-efficient buildings," Yang Zhou, Deputy Chief Architect at Beijing Institute of Architectural Design, told ChinAfrica. A recent project of his was Togo's national stadium, the Stade de Kégué, which seats 30,000.

From Yang's perspective, Eastern views on sustainable development are unique in that they advocate leading a simple life in order to reduce energy consumption. Part of scaling down involves living in a well-designed house that will keep occupants cool in summer and warm in winter. Yang is a proponent of design that makes use of solar power and aerodynamics for air flow, both of which help to keep energy use – and costs – low.

Young architects from Yang's institute were sent to Denmark to learn advanced energy-saving and environmental protection technologies. To his great surprise, what they learned instead was how to incorporate Eastern philosophy into their designs of solar-powered buildings.

"Although China lags behind Western countries in terms of energy-saving and environmental protection technologies, we share the same concerns, the same dream," said Yang.

When asked what he felt was the biggest obstacle to achieving a "better life," Yang said he hoped Chinese citizens would be able to identify a good path to urban sustainable development.

"Instead of copying others, we must have our own design, including architectural design. This is the fundamental solution to the problem. China cannot be a manufacturing plant forever," he explained.

"In 10 years' time, China will probably have its own views on sustainable development, rather than following others when talking about environmental protection or low-carbon projects. We are still learning, [and] it takes time," Yang added.

The Urban Best Practices Area at the Shanghai Expo is a move toward this vision of the future. "Indeed, there is still a huge gap between our dream and reality," noted its director Sun Liansheng. "[But] from the government to companies and individuals, as long as we work together, this dream can be fulfilled."

The name of the mascot of the 2010 Shanghai World Expo is Haibao, which means "treasure of the sea."

Haibao is created from a Chinese character meaning people. The character for "people" looks like a person (人), and is pronounced "ren."

Type of Ticket	Price in yuan
Peak Day Single*	200
Peak Day Special *	120
Standard Day Single	160
Standard Day Special	100
3-Day Admission	400
7-Day Admission	900
Evening Admission*	90
Group Admission	For authorized travel agents only
Student Group Admission	For authorized travel agents and educational institutions only

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