By Jean Marie Charpentier

Ever since Shanghai won the bid to host the Expo 2010, lots of papers have been written by expo specialists or academics on the various issues facing the Shanghai Expo, such as the transportation, the economy, the planning, the after-use, etc. For me, the real challenge for any World Expo is the "Post Expo", that is, the after-use of the Expo site and the buildings left over. This is a task not as simple as to re-identify a commercially viable way of their new usages, rather, we have to find a meaningful after-use that can continue to introduce the same cultural and social significance as done by Expo. In the particular case of the upcoming Shanghai Expo, it is how the after-use can continue to contribute to the deepening of the theme "Better city, Better Life", to make it a long-lasting legacy.

This is the issue I'd like to address today. As a French architect, I will naturally base my argument on the French and European experiences. I will start by giving you some examples in Paris, which happens to be the host city of some previous world expos.

--- La Tour Eiffel (Expo 1889)

--- Le Champs de Mars (Expo 1889), today a public park which holds Paris' largest open-air concert each year on the evening of June 21, Paris's night long music festival.

--- Le Grand Palais ( Expo 1900), today Art Museum

--- Le Petit Palais (Expo 1900) , today Palace of Discovery

--- La Gare d'Orsay (Expo 1900), today Art Museum

--- Le Palais de Tokyo (Expo 1937), today Modern Art Museum

--- Le Palais de Chaillot (Le Trocadero) (Expo 1937), today made up of a City of Architecture and Heritage, a Museum of Human Civilization and a Theatre

We can see that throughout the time, these buildings have not only contributed to a new look of the map of Paris, but have also introduced important cultural contents into the Parisian life, making Paris a famous city of culture and charm, admired and visited all year round by people from four corners of the world.

If the 19th and 20th century celebrated the early stages of industrial revolution, as illustrated by the buildings above mentioned which reflected the era when one needed a gigantic vertical structure such as Eiffel Tower to demonstrate one's mastering of massive machines and advanced technology, what are the concepts that we shall value in the 21st century? The answer is simple: today we don't need to build another Eiffel Tower.

In the 21st century it is no longer necessary to demonstrate technical performances–reality has already surpassed fiction-space walk, test-tube babies, skyscrapers, internet, you name it!

The 21st century is the century of environment and sustainable development. Today architects and city planners are expected to think up new neighbourhoods and cities that are larger and larger, 100 thousand, 1 million, 2,5 million inhabitants. We have to transform land into a city with superior living conditions and in an environmentally-friendly manner. We can no longer imitate Leonardo de Vinci during the Renaissance period because today not a single architect or city planner can pretend to comprehend all the facts of our technical, social and cultural environment. Still we continue to believe in alchemy even though true science is at our disposal. We need to mobilize true scholars and scientists.

In many countries, for many projects of great importance, such as the design of an airplane, a space shuttle, etc, collaborative efforts like virtual work have already been widely used.

But in terms of city planning, we need to introduce the same type of international interaction that have been proved to be successful!

It is this scientific, social and cultural challenge that the shanghai Expo 2010 welcomes.

In the next 50 years, we are going to build as many buildings as our ancestors have done in the past 5000 years.

It comes at a moment when China, India and other countries confront with a heavy stream of migration. China for example is discussing how to build 400 new cities, each one with a million inhabitants, in order to accommodate a total of 400 million new people. The construction of these new cities gives us the opportunity to build properly.

The interest of the Expo 2010 does not just concern itself with the present moment but also with the long term aspects of city planning and design. To this end we need to unify internationally in order to create a "Research and Education Centre for the Design of Environmentally-friendly Cities". This centre for research and education should be able to include the work of scholars of all disciplines, making it easier to solve the different problems that are associated with such densely populated areas.

The centre would also welcome the participation of major industrial players in all the sectors related to a better living quality, whether it's health, energy, transportation, services or water and waster treatment. We ought to mobilise these factors to give an economic boost to the project.

Formerly, different western countries sent their best scholars in architecture, city planning and art to Rome through foundations that had established the prize of Rome. They were sent there so that they could analyse and understand the founding properties of our western society, and conduct projects inspired by the "Eternal City".

The world has changed drastically and so have its references. Today's urbanism raises new problems and questions. Asia is a continent that is undergoing some of the strongest mutations and the fastest growth rate of economic development. Europe created the Rome Prize and the Nobel Prize, America created the Pritzker Prize of Architecture, but there is no prize called "The Prize for the Design of Environmentally-friendly Cities", or should we call it, a "Prize for Better City, Better Life".

The expo 2010 in the city of Shanghai will be a perfect platform to launch the Grand Prize of"Better City, Better Life", the supporting Foundation, and the first international competition, and to announce a "Research and Education Centre on the Design of Environmentally-friendly Cities" to be created after the Expo - the only one of its kind in the world.

The Centre will accommodate researchers and scholars from different institutions and enterprises to stay here to do researches and exchange ideas. Each year, there will be a Grand Prize to reward the best scientific achievement.

This is also going to be a centre of education. Governments, enterprises and institutions all over the world shall send their civil servants, city planners, R&D personnel to the centre to learn and get a global view on the future of urban planning.

The project must also serve for the better understanding of ordinary citizens. It should be open to the public for them to come to experience and appreciate a better living quality of tomorrow, driven by modern concepts and science!

This is my proposal to the "after-use" of Expo 2010. Unlike any other exhibition, that is here today and gone tomorrow, the World Expo must leave people with a long-lasting memory. The Shanghai Expo 2010 must be a vehicle to deliver "Better City, Better Life" to future generations.