Expo Shanghai will be the focus of the world with its embodiment of human aspirations, and its preparation also brings together wisdoms from all walks of life. Centering upon the "Better City, Better Life" theme of the Expo Shanghai, experts hired as advisors to the theme development of the Expo Shanghai voiced their opinions regarding theme development and the master exhibition plans of the China Pavilion and the Theme Hall.

Wu Jianzhong

Curator of Shanghai Library

The World Expo is an important development opportunity for China, but this opportunity may be misunderstood as a chance to propel economic development. This opinion is somewhat problematic, as it is not in conformity with the spirit of the World Expo. The World Expo is a global pageant for the discussion and solution of common problems faced by human beings. There is a transitional process from commercial exhibitions to thematic exhibitions, and the development of the theme should be a long-term task. We should mobilize all domestic forces to host the World Expo, and in this way, the theme development will be very important.

Zheng Shiling

Head of the Institute of Architecture and Urban Space, Tongji University

I run across the slogan of“Greet the Economic Olympics”in Najing Road when receiving an investigation group from BIE. The slogan is problematic, as the World Expo belongs to the category of universal exposition that propels across-the-board development, instead of only driving economic growth.

Xia Jun

Editor-in-chief of Chinese Heritage Magazine

BIE maintained that we have had too many positive interpretations of cities with little recognition of the challenges for cities. This viewpoint is correct. I always think that Shanghai is cut out for this theme, as it can help us reflect the development models of cities. China is witnessing runaway development of cities at present, but we don't know whether our energy and natural resources can sustain this kind of growth model or not? Chinese history, take the urban development of the ancient Xi’an city, shows that our cities are not built on petroleum, which should be the focus of our concerns.

Chen Jining

Dean of Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tsinghua University

The Expo Shanghai has adopted "harmony" as its core concept, which is a good choice. Developed countries are different from developing countries in terms of growth models; therefore we should respect two things in order to achieve harmonic relationship. Firstly, we should respect the diversity of cultures; secondly, we should respect the diversity of nature. How to respect these diversities? First of all, we should recognize that scientific and technological progress may lead to linear growth for cities and surging energy consumption, and we should reconsider this growth model today. Secondly, this goal requires the joint efforts from all the cities, and we should have a global perspective in calling on different cities to carry out this concept with joint efforts.

What on earth is the harmony between man and nature? I think the core is to ensure the completeness of the ecological system and to ensure the safety of cities. The current exhibition plans of the China Pavilion and the Theme Hall all touch upon issues bearing upon environmental protection. I hope that we should not only emphasize environmental protection, but also accentuate the protection of the ecological system in the run-up to the World Expo to reflect the philosophy of harmony in the master plan.

Weng Shilie

Academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering

The registration report has specified the theme and sub-themes of the World Expo, and it also proposed a core philosophy, which is "harmony". These concepts can all be accepted easily, but how should we run the exhibition? Exhibitions must be interesting, staying away from being dull, and we should also have the necessary technology and tools to help display the exhibits. Our duty is to integrate them in a bid to make them good exhibitions.

To showcase the harmony between different people as well as the harmony between nature and human beings, we can not only embody them in exhibits, but also show them outside the pavilions, or even we could display them in the whole Shanghai city. Take the Chongming Island, an ecological area in Shanghai, could we integrate it into the World Expo? Another example is the diversification of energy resources, which can not only be displayed in the Expo Park, but also in a residential complex in Shanghai. All in all, we should combine small systems with the big system, and integrate concepts into exhibitions. What kind of exhibition tools should we use? We should use both high-technology and information technology, with some to be exhibited with models and others using the real objects. If all of the exhibits are to be displayed in multimedia technologies, there will be nothing to show when electricity outage occurs.

Xu Hong

Deputy Dean of the School of Journalism and Communication, Peking University

The history of the World Expo clearly shows a trend of transition from commercial exhibitions to thematic ones. I went to Japan to visit the Aichi World Expo last year, which stroke me as a carnival-style exhibition for the public, featuring exhibits and games. At present, we are also reflecting the problems related to cities, pondering over whether it is in conformity with the law of nature to have mass destruction and mass construction in cities. How should we handle the waste of energy? Does culture mean the co-existence of diversified ones or the homogenization of all cultures? We should think these issues over. Consequently, we should not only run exhibitions, but also step up efforts in holding different types of forums.

Zhao Xinshan

Head of the Institute of German & Austrian Cultures, Shanghai Academy of Social Science

How to embody Chinese philosophy in the exhibitions? Since ancient China, we could find couplets wherever there is a building. What kind of couplet should we hang on the Chinese pavilion? My suggestion is "Feng Tiao Yu Shun, Guo Tai Min An"(meaning the current society is a harmonious one as people enjoy safety and prosperity along with good weather), with "He Xie"(meaning harmony) as the horizontal line of the couplet. This couplet summarizes the two major relationships that we are facing: the relationship between different people and the relationship between mankind and nature.

He Shouchang

CPC Party Secretary of the Shanghai Theatre Academy

A theme can be developed in many ways, with many answers, but what we are supposed to solve is only one question; therefore methodology is quite important. We have to overcome many obstacles in the creative process starting from ideation to innovation, and then to the composition of stories, to visual and audio multimedia, and then to the final integration of the whole system. The most important question is how to ensure the ideation will not be distorted in the process of linking different symbols and integrating them into one systemic product, and how to combine it with the flow of visitors and the management of the pavilions, which merit our further study.

Ning Yuemin

Dean of the Center of Modern Chinese City Studies, East China Normal University

The theme is an innovative product of our continuous concern in harmony. The relationship between the urban and the rural areas, which is one of the sub-themes, is concerned with the solution to challenges arising from urbanization. There has been conflict between the urban and the rural ever since the industrial revolution and it is still a prominent issue for developing countries at present. We can showcase this sub-theme with China's high-productivity rice, as food supply and land resources are big questions in connection with safety. The theme of cultural diversity is also quite good, as the world today is still far away from being harmonious, and there are still many religious conflicts in this world. How to exhibit cultural diversity? The China Pavilion can exhibit the mutual coexistence between tradition and modernity, the dominant Han nationality and ethnic minorities, and different religions, which has a long history in China.

Chen Xiaoli

Chief Urban Planner, Ministry of Construction

Industrial civilization may be superior to agricultural civilization, but urban culture is not better than rural culture. The cities should not stand in opposition to the villages, as it all boils down to the problem of dwelling environment. There are still many problems in China's urban development, but China's urban philosophy has many cultural values. The traditional Chinese philosophy is actually quite suitable to the development of human beings, for instance, the ancient city of Xi'an or the even earlier the ruins of Yin.

It is quite difficult to exhibit economic prosperity, but we may use the scientific development philosophy to display this. In addition, we should also focus on the exhibition of technology, as we should encourage the development of many technological sectors in order to build a resource-efficient and environment-friendly society. Culture, resources, and safety are all important contents in the scientific development philosophy; in addition, we should also add humanity to the philosophy. How should we take care of the aged, children, underprivileged, disabled, and mobile population? These are all related to the rebuilding of our society. The Expo Shanghai should not only exhibit aspects concerning humanity and society, but also display technology and products.

Chen Xiejun

Director of Shanghai Museum

We should handle the following five relationships properly:

Firstly, the relationship between the guiding parties and the participating parties. The guiding parties are the organizing committee, the executive committee and the expert committee. The Exposition should of course reflect the ideas of the guiding parties, but the main body for the Expo is around 70 million/times visitors. The guiding parities should consider what and how to exhibit, while the visitors are to think about what and how to visit. Now we should do more to make the Expo more edifying and interactive. Secondly, it is the completeness and flexibility of the story. We should have a complete thread that links all parts of the exhibition story, but we should also take into account the independence of each pavilion, integrating all these two factors into the Expo. Thirdly, it is the relationship between inheritance and development, which means we should not over-accentuate the importance of tradition; instead, we should seek growth based on tradition, and display history on the basis of future development. Fourthly, we should make the Expo not only a profound one but also a simplified one, which means we should also simplify the Expo while expounding upon the profound aspect of historical development, as it is not necessary for us to shoulder all the historical responsibilities, and we should learn to deduct apart from accumulation. Fifthly, it is the relationship between being popular and being unique. It is easy to present favorite exhibits for visitors, but we still need to showcase exhibits displaying the latest scientific and technological achievement, which can provide a nice surprise for visitors.

Xu Yongshun

Deputy Head of the Research & Design Institute, Shanghai Sci & Tech Museum

The theme development of the Expo Shanghai is a project featuring the unification of creative design, exhibition and management. With time pressing, I think we should decide upon the major framework for the core contents of the main halls. Some of questions in the exhibition plan bear upon arts, whereas others are about technology. It is hard to appraise artistic questions, so we should seek opinions from the experts.

Among the audience of the Expo, there are not only Chinese but also overseas visitors. What kind of exhibits should we present to overseas visitors? I think we should present them exhibits showing the contributions of our Chinese people to the world, and our culture of "seeking harmony in diversity". To give a visual impact to the domestic visitors, we must have an innovative system based on high-tech tools; meanwhile, we should also enable domestic visitors to enjoy the allure of the World Expo.

Wang Panyan

Deputy Head of China Academy of Urban Construction

I want to talk about two points.

Firstly, we should not only exhibit the theme in the pavilions, but also embody the theme in the whole Expo Park, with the sub-areas being independent in its exhibition. We should also allow the participation by the residents, which will not only amplify our promotional efforts, but also help them directly experience the better life as displayed in the Expo. In addition, we should also adopt technology in the construction of pavilions.

Secondly, we should consider how to run the exhibition in connection with the functions of the city, as the functions and forms of a city may change in different periods. There are challenges arising from shortage of resources and lands in the development of a city, giving rise to discordance, which we should study further in preparing the Expo.

Wang Lu

Professor of the School of Architecture, Tsinghua University

How should we organize the Expo in a simple manner after carrying out a series of profound research work in the preceding periods? Since the theme touches upon many aspects, we might, in running the Expo, run across occasions where the actual exhibits are out of place.

The World Expo is not a symposium, and it should be a favorite place for the public to visit. Some aspects of the theme may be closely related to the lives of our citizens, for example, exhibits showing food, clothing, housing and transportation. For clothing, the brands of garment will impact the style of a city. For food, there are many local specialties that are representatives of urban lifestyle, such as restaurants, bar and tea house. For housing, the housing evolution of mankind is quite representative when we think about the transitional process, starting from jumping off the tree to live in caves, to the current housing patterns. We could present exhibits showcasing the evolution of the residences of mankind, which is not only closely related to the daily lives of the commonalty, but also reflect the impact of technology and tradition. For transportation, the traffic vehicles also reflect the landscape of a city.

Mu Hua

Vice General Manager of the Exhibition Engineering Company of CIEC

I just want to mention one point: our responsibility is to define the concepts, whereas it is the job of technical staff when it comes to the exhibition tools and technologies. We should also consider whether the engineers have achieved the goals of our plan. Are the exhibitions penetrating, shocking and explosive? But at the present phase, we still need to emphasize the exhibition philosophy.