Written by Dai Qian

The urban design work for the Expo Park kicked off formally on November 1, 2005. A new construction blueprint, entitled "The urban design for the Expo 2010 Shanghai China Park"was worked out on time after relentless efforts from various officials and experts, reflecting that the overall planning for the Expo Shanghai has entered a stage of concrete implementation from abstract and conceptual thinking. Professor Wu Zhiqiang, chief planner for the Expo Park speaks to Expo 2010 Shanghai on the quintessential parts of the detailed urban construction plan for the Expo Park.

From "master plan" to detailed "urban design"

We have noticed that the newly released "Urban design for the Expo 2010 Shanghai China Park" is different from the previous master plan for the Expo Park in phrasing. What is the difference between these two terms? Professor Wu said the new construction plan is expected to play a pivotal role that connects the previous blueprint to future plans, adding that the difference and connection between the two terms are that "Urban design for the Expo Park is a continuation of the master plan as well as further elaboration of the master plan via adjusting part of the previous plan, elaborating project designs and optimizing the designs for specific parts and eye-grabbing parts, and it will be a pivotal link in bridging the planning of the Expo Park with the pavilion construction, investor and exhibitor recruitment, providing technical support for the design bidding for key buildings and sights and the compilation of participation guidance for each pavilion.

Finalizing the "Fenced Area" and "Urban Experimental Zone"

Professor Wu told us that the World Expo site consists of a fenced area and a non-fenced area, with the fenced area allowing admission by tickets only. The fenced area is the centralized venue of the pavilions, including various pavilions and cultural and entertainment facilities, while the non-fenced area will accommodate various support facilities, such as transport transfer hub, parking lots, squares, World Expo Village, etc.. In the new construction plan, there is basically no change in the fenced area, and the conception of "Urban Experimental Zone" was made more specific in the new plan. The finalized fenced area covers 3.28 sq km of land, and the non-fenced support area covers two sq km of land. What is noteworthy is the establishment of an "Urban Experimental Zone" in the Shanghai Expo Park, which will be the first such establishment in the history of the World Expo. In the master plan, the"Urban Experimental Zone"was only an abstract concept, as we still did not know where it should be located, In Pudong or in Puxi? All these were open to question in the master plan, but in the new construction plan, we have made it clear that the zone will be located in Puxi. When the World Expo starts in 2010, the"Urban Experimental Zone"will help people explore the urban living models in the future, and these models are to be showcased in detailed objects, instead of promoting abstract concepts. It will be a very unique pavilion, and definitely will attract many visitors.

Crack the vicious circle triggered by a daily volume of 400,000 visitors

Professor Wu said that the research team responsible for the formulation of the new construction plan has taken into full account two factors, which can also be said to be two difficult problems; the team has conducted rounds of empirical research in order to resolve them.

The first factor is the allocation of land for each visitor, which should be studied carefully. The Expo Shanghai will receive a total of 70 million visitors, resulting into a daily volume of 400,000 person-times. The pavilions must be big enough in order to accommodate such a big number of visitors, but large pavilions will lead to increased distance between pavilions, meaning that visitors many not finish visiting all the pavilions in one day and they may return once again the next day or even a third time or fourth time until finishing the visits. Consequently, the numbers of visitors to be accommodated each day may double, which calls for even larger pavilions, resulting into larger spaces and more time to be spent in visiting the pavilions……It sounds like a vicious circle that you can never get out. How to break this circle remains a challenge for the Expo Shanghai. It cannot be solved by adding more spaces.

Three threshold values that must be surpassed

To step out of this vicious circle and enlarge the accommodating capacity of the Expo Park, there are three key operational factors. In the words of Professor Wu, we should take care of three threshold values, and we will be able to handle a throughput of 70–80 million person-times in 2010 if we can surpass these three threshold values.

The first threshold value is to ensure the orderly admission of visitors to the fenced area.

The second threshold value is the quick admission into the pavilions and to reduce the waiting time for visitors in front of the entrance of pavilions.

The third threshold value is the construction of complete support facilities in the Expo Park.

Professor Wu added that his team has carried out ten big and systemic designs that cover all aspects of the Expo Park with an aim to be exhaustive and precise.

Queuing time for Expo Park admission shortened to half an hour from three hours

The Expo Shanghai has optimized the transport system in the Expo Park based on experiences learned from the Hanover, Lisbon and Aichi World Expos.

The Expo Shanghai will have 8 land entries and exits, and four entries and exits on water, with a total of 540 ticket checking points. It will still take three hours for visitors to get into the Expo Park one by one even if all the 540 ticketing checking machines all works normally during the peak hour. How to solve this problem?

Professor Wu told us the possible solution that the Expo Shanghai will adopt, saying that“we will try to move the entrance out of the Park in order to relieve the admission pressure. We have originally planned to set up eight land entries, and the new plan has made detailed arrangement with respect to numbers of visitors to be allowed via each entry, and the spaces needed. We have arranged facilities such as parking lots (stations), Exterior Square for waiting, safety check, ticket check, Inner squares and other facilities for entering the Park. The areas earmarked to the squares for waiting have also been carefully calculated, and there is still an Inner Square after entering the Park. In so doing, the waiting time for entering the Park will be shortened to about two hours if we combine the removal of entries from the Park and the orderly admission system for visitors. In addition, we will also use a different pricing mechanism in accordance with the volume of visitors during different periods of time in each day, setting up morning, noon and evening visiting periods that help siphon off visitors during the peak time by using different prices for different periods of visiting. The time spent in waiting might be cut to half an hour if we adopt the system of morning and evening periods for visiting and the removal of entries out of the Park. In line with the accommodating capacity of each entry, we will stipulate on the tickets that holders must enter the Park at the designated entry and within the designated periods of the day.

Cultural performances to add splendor to the World Expo

There is no major adjustment in the spatial arrangement of the functional areas, with the structures set in the original master plan, namely the structure of "one main structure plus several supporting structures", remaining unchanged. This kind of structural array will help ensure not only centralized highlights but also eye-grabbing structures in the sub-areas. Although there is no structural adjustment, we have moved to further elaborate and concretize the design. For example, we have made specific arrangement with regards to how many pavilions in each sub-area, which countries to use these pavilions, and how many pavilions will there be in each cluster as well what kinds of performance venues should be set up for each cluster. There will be a stage in between the pavilions of eight or nine countries as a result of our careful organization, which will ensure that the cultural, ethnic, traditional and innovative programs will be performed for visitors queuing outside the pavilions of these eight or nine pavilions. The transformation of queuing time into the warm-up time for visitors to the relevant pavilions will help make the visitors less bored and more relieved when queuing outside the pavilions, in addition, it can also help them gain knowledge of the cultures of features of these countries in advance, giving them instructions ahead of the visits and reducing their visiting time in the pavilions.

An increase of additional 260,000 sq meters of floor space in the Expo Park

In the original master plan, there was a conception for the construction of underground spaces with an aim to increase outdoor spaces and for cooling purposes in the sweltering summer days. In the new construction plan, this concept has been further elaborated, making clear issues such as at which places the underground spaces should be earmarked in the system of scattering visitors in the Park, and the areas for the spaces. In line with the design, a total of 260,000 sq m of floor spaces will be added in the 3.28 sq km of the fenced area.

The underground spaces will be a beautiful and attractive structure in the Expo 2010 as it not only adds more outdoor spaces, but also provides shelters from sun and rain, protects the ecological environment, sets up a visual corridor to the riverside and boosts the interaction between pavilions and the outside sights.

Old factory buildings as witness of the history

There are many heritage buildings of architectural interests in the Expo Park, and they will be kept intact in the construction of the Expo Park in accordance with the master plan for the Expo Shanghai. Professor Wu said it will be the first time for the World Expo to launch such kind of large-scale conservation of heritage buildings.

During the Expo Shanghai, many of the large buildings will be used as enterprise pavilion or support facilities, and will be further restored after the Expo as ever-lasting witnesses of the historical development of China's nationalist industries.

Signature objects that help retain the splendor of the World Expo

Landmark objects will always be the core sights that helps bring back the memorable glory of each World Expo. Signature objects include buildings and other constructions, which will be the everlasting landmarks for the host city. The host expects that those signature objects that can showcase the spiritual embodiment of the Expo Shanghai and reflect the theme properly will be the highlights of the Expo Shanghai, becoming the permanent landmarks for Shanghai in the future. We are now working on the current plan, and we hope that we can bring a surprise to everybody, creating landmark buildings that live up to your expectation.

In the sub-areas of the Expo Park, there are also many sights that showcase the deep meaning of the Expo theme, the spirits of our people, and high-tech creations with different features. Visitors will surely enjoy the sights in the Park as they will be lucky to watch different sights in different areas, with all of them eye-catching.

The Expo 2010 shall never be a vapid one.