Shanghai Daily news

More than 200 guests from home and abroad gathered today in Pudong Shangri-La Hotel to share their thoughts and suggestions for urban development at the city's annual forum for World Expo 2010.

It is the fifth time that the city government and the Bureau of International Expositions have invited officials and scholars from around the world to contribute to the preparations for the Shanghai Expo.

"It is the first time that 'the city' has become the theme of the World Expo. The 'Urban Best Practices Area,' the brainchild of Expo organizers, will provide a platform for cities to communicate on issues such as sustainable development and the harmony between human activity and nature," said Xi Jinping, Party secretary of the Shanghai Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China, at the opening ceremony.

The Expo forum 2007 focused on the theme of "Urban Best Practices," as presenting "real and successful practices" in urban development, a theme that have won warm responses from the international community, said Wang Jinzhen, vice chairman of China Council for the Promotion of International Trade.

The Urban Best Practices Area, which the organizers specially allocated in the Expo Site, is one of the most important methods through which to interpret the theme of Shanghai Expo, "Better City, Better Life," said Wang.

"We also hope to participate in the Urban Best Practices Area," said Laura Fincato, deputy mayor of Venice, Italy. "As the city is welcoming more than 200 million visitors every year, we have some experience in solving problems brought by immigration and confronting environmental issues."

"Not only big cities have successful cases," said Mats Andersson, senior urban management specialist with the World Bank.

"Good examples are the two small cities Curitiba in Brazil, and Bogot in Columbia. They are famous for their urban transport system, particularly rapid bus transportation, which is very practical and much cheaper than Metro lines. These practices could be displayed at the Expo."

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

The international selecting committee will meet for the second time tomorrow to have rough discussions on the list of what to present in the area.

"We think we already have a list of more than a hundred candidates, and it's not easy to choose 30 out of them," said Andersson, who is also a member of the committee.

The previous forums were held in Shanghai, Paris and Aichi in Japan.