Expo 2020

Expo 2020, is a Universal scale Registered Exposition time slot sanctioned by the Bureau of International Expositions (BIE), Paris on 27 November 2013. Dubai in the United Arab Emirates won the right to hold Expo 2020.

Parameters

As a Registered Exposition it may be a maximum of six months in length and adhere to a wide universal theme that applies to all humanity. Past themes of Universal Expositions include "Man and His World" Montreal Expo 67, "Leisure in the Age of Technology" Brisbane Expo 88 and "Discovery" Seville Expo 92.

Bids and bidding

Once one city had lodged a bid with the BIE other cities had six months to respond. The earliest allowed time to lodge a bid was 2011, and the latest 2014. With an early 2011 bids to the BIE, Izmir of Turkey and Ayutthaya of Thailand initiated the six-month window for other cities to bid. This window closed on 2 November 2011, at which point 5 cities had lodged their bids with the BIE, with Dubai making a last minute entry. The BIE voted on the winning host city on 27 November 2013.

Five cities originally bid for the slot for a world's fair in 2020, with four remaining: Dubai, UAE; Ekaterinburg, Russia; Izmir, Turkey; or São Paulo, Brazil. Expo 2020 will represent a first as a Middle Eastern destination will be hosting the event for the first time.^[2]

The following cities lodged bids to the BIE for hosting the 2020 EXPO:

• İzmir, Turkey^[3][4]
• Yekaterinburg, Russia^[5][6]
• São Paulo, Brazil^[7][8]
• Dubai, United Arab Emirates^[9]

São Paulo was eliminated from contention after the first round of votes. Izmir was knocked out in the second. Yekaterinburg lost to Dubai in the third and final round of voting.

Dubai

UAE selected the theme “Connecting Minds, Creating the Future”, sub-themes being Sustainability, Mobility and Opportunity.^[10][11]

"In today’s highly interconnected world, a renewed vision of progress and development based on shared purpose and commitment is key. While a single human mind, an individual country, or a specific community is both unique and remarkable, it is by working collaboratively that we truly advance." Dubai Ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum said in support of the bid.

The World Expo in Dubai in 2020 will be the first to be held in the MENA & SA (Middle East and North Africa & South Asia) region.

On 27 November 2013, when Dubai won the right to host the expo 2020, fireworks erupted at the world's tallest building, Burj Khalifa. A national holiday was declared the following day for all educational institutions across the country. The Dubai Ruler promised Dubai would "astonish the world," in 2020. The staging of the world fair and the preparations leading up to it are expected to result in 277,000 new jobs in the UAE, an injection of nearly $40 billion into the economy, and an increase in visitors of at least 25 million and up to 100 million.^[12] Director General of Dubai Municipality, Hussain Nasser Lootah, said that they have the largest laboratory in the region, and can easily research new materials and technologies required for construction ^[13]. The world's tallest commercial tower to be built in Dubai, in Jumeirah Lake Towers, was given the name "Burj 2020" in honour of the World Expo 2020.

There are reports which have analysed the recent economic downturn and predict that World Expo 2020 in Dubai, will lead to a property bubble, which might have far reaching consequences.^[14]

Yekaterinburg

The Russian bid The Global Mind would have run from May 1 to October 31, and would have been the second largest expo (after 2010 in Shanghai) and intended to "survey world opinion through seven universal questions".^[15]

İzmir

The Turkish bid had a theme of New Routes to a Better World / Health for All and would have run from April 30 to October 31.^[16] A Health for All symnposium was held in October 2013 for BIE delegates and was to discuss health issues across the world.^[17]

São Paulo

A Brazilian expo would have been called Power of Diversity, Harmony for Growth, run from May 15 to November 15 and would have covered 502 hectares.^[18] If it had won it would have be the first Latin American country to host an expo.^[19]

References

External links

• ExpoBids.com Noticias sobre las Ofertas de la Feria Mundial de Todo El Mundo,
• Expo 2020 Dubai, UAE official blog
• Expo 2020 Dubai, UAE official site
• Expo 2020 São PauloBrazil official site