Shanghai World Expo organisers postponed the deadline for the worldwide search for good practices in urban development to be displayed in the Expo site, in order to cope with an overwhelming number of requests from international cities that want to join the exhibition.

Cities that intend to take part in the selection were set to submit their application by today. But as some countries launched preliminary selections before submitting proposals, the organisers and the Bureau of International Exposition decided to push back the deadline to January 31, 2008.

Some 30 examples to be showcased in the Urban Best Practices Area, will be selected from the experiences of international cities to give visitors innovative ideas about bettering their lives.

The organisers allocated a 15-hectare space on the Puxi side of the Expo site for their brainchild to display real scenarios and landscapes.

In May, the organisers started to ask cities that want to take part in the best practices exhibition to submit their proposals for selection.

So far, 13 cities, including Liverpool in Britain, Madrid in Spain, St. Paul in Brazil and Zurich in Switzerland, have officially submitted 16 cases for selection.

Shanghai also has already prepared several cases for exhibition, said Zhou Hanmin, deputy director general of the Bureau of Shanghai World Expo Coordination.

In total, 58 cities have expressed their will to participate in the selection of the area, 26 of which have conducted detailed negotiations with the organisers, said Zhou.

The selection committee, consisting of 20 members from international organizations such as the UN Environment Program, UNESCO and the World Bank, is scheduled to review the proposals between September and November.

Besides submitting projects for consideration by themselves, international cities can also be nominated by the organisers and international organizations.

UNESCO has recommended more than 20 cases to the selecting committee, said Zhou, also one of the judges.

The international committee will take the dominant role in selection, organisers only help propose and select the best examples, said the organisers.

The first meeting of the selection committee was held in April, leading by Vicente Loscertales, secretary general of International Expositions Bureau.