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Expo 2010 Shanghai a dream come true

By Wang Yong | May 13, 2009, Wednesday | Print Edition

IN a way, World Expo 2010 will be a 100-year-old dream come true for Shanghai.

In 1910, 32-year-old Lu Shi'e, a Shanghai doctor and novelist, published a romantic novel titled "New China," in which he predicted that Shanghai would eventually host such a global event in what is today's Pudong New Area.

He also predicted that, by the time a Shanghai World Expo would open, motor vehicles would run underground in the city to avoid traffic jams, noise and visual pollution associated with elevated bridges.

He had a gift of prophecy. Of the 5.28-square-kilometer venue for World Expo 2010 in Shanghai, Pudong represents 3.93 sq km. Subways are spreading across the city.

Lu did fail to anticipate the parallel growth of elevated bridges, and for that matter, cars and high-rise buildings.

Lu's novel went to print on the eve of the fall of China's last dynasty - Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) - and it was only natural for Lu to envision a new China free from humiliation at the gunpoint of Western imperial powers.

In his novel, he wished that foreign concessions would have been canceled, once-arrogant foreigners would hold Chinese in high esteem, Chinese would become a world language, Chinese-made products would have outperformed European ones, and all judges and lawyers would be Chinese capable of making sound judgments and opinions.

Lu's was essentially a dream of a better China, a stronger China.

Nearly 100 years have passed, and many Chinese, especially Shanghainese, are no less enthusiastic than Lu about a World Expo in Shanghai. Many of us share his dream of a revival of Chinese culture, but unlike him, we're not talking about things Chinese only.

World Expo 2010 in Shanghai is not about showing off any "supreme" culture commanding the respect of others. Arrogance begets arrogance. World Expo 2010 is about holding each other in high esteem and learning from each other in mankind's search for what is contained in the Expo theme: Better City, Better Life.

Sure, foreigners have a lot to learn from China, but it's equally important, or more important, for Shanghai (and the whole country indeed) to borrow the best of foreign wisdom about a better city and a better life. He who learns well, grows well.

Japan, a nation adept at learning, benefited greatly from World Expo 1970 in Osaka ("Progress and Harmony for Mankind") and World Expo 2005 in Aichi (Nature's Wisdom).

For example, a moon rock displayed in the US pavilion at World Expo 1970 was an eye-opener for millions of visitors from Japan, a country determined to become a technology power.

World Expo 2010 in Shanghai will be the first to have a theme of urban life. Many Western cities have come a long way from industrial pollution to environmental protection, providing ample lessons and experiences for Shanghai and many other Chinese cities now bristling with construction sites in their urbanization drive.

In their earlier stages of industrialization, many Western cities suffered from urban sprawl and a zest for high-rises and cars. The result was a disappearing countryside and dirtier air and water.

Segregated

In 1800, only 2 percent of the world's population lived in cities. In 2007, half the world's population lived in cities. The United Nations has put the figure at 53.4 percent in 2015 and 60.3 percent in 2030.

Does a city offer a better life than a village? If it does, how?

In crowded cities, people live closer and closer to each other in compartmentalized space but are still strangers to each other.

Is this segregated life better than a communal one? Is a city of cars better than one on bikes or on foot?

Lu was wise in choosing subways over elevated bridges, but he would have been greater had he spoken more of the benefits of bikes and walks.

Fortunately, there will be an exhibition on "The Revival of the Bicycle" from the city of Odense, Denmark, at this Expo. Odense is the hometown of Hans Christian Andersen, fabled author of fairy tales. It's Denmark's national cycle city.

"The Revival of the Bicycle" is part of the Urban Best Practices Area at World Expo 2010, and the UBPA will be the first-ever at an Expo. There, many cities like Paris, Milan and Cairo will showcase their achievements in fostering a better city and a better life.

China is a giant of bikes, but this is no reason why she cannot learn from Denmark in creating a bike city or many bike cities.

A bicycle is more than a vehicle, it's an attitude about what we are as urbanites.

Jane Jacobs (1916-2006), an American-born Canadian urbanist and writer, warned in her 2004 book "Dark Age Ahead" that a lack of foot traffic in many cities is a sign of a culture in crisis.

I'm not as pessimistic as Jacobs, though. The age of cars will be over, provided we get the education right.

World Expo 2010 will be a great classroom where Shanghainese and many other Chinese will learn to live beyond oil-guzzlers and many other "modern things" in a truly better city.

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