Redefining Shanghaï: bringing old and new together for World Expo
Large-scale construction projects return to city centres
Abstract: The future site for the 2010 World Expo in Shanghaï has finally been selected following the examination of several proposals. The site will be built at the edge of the Huangpu River, marking a renewed focus on the urban environment. Three projects were retained in a selection process which began in 1999, all involving sites far from the city centre. The suburbs have become the location of choice for large-scale construction, with more and more undeveloped land being cleared as the city expands outwards. A predictable choice would therefore have been to host the World Expo not in densely urbanised Shanghaï, but in an underdeveloped suburb that could reap the benefits of a project requiring low levels of investment but yielding high-profit results.
