Shanghai Daily news

Social inclusion in Brazil's Porto Allegre, protection and use of historic canals in Venice, and a tent city in the desert of Saudi Arabia are among the urban best practices to be showcased in the World Expo 2010 Shanghai.

After a nine-month worldwide search, Expo organizers last week unveiled 55 city projects for the Expo's Urban Best Practices Area (UBPA), illustrating innovative ways to realize "Better City, Better Life," the Expo theme.

The UBPA will be one of the Expo highlights. Organizers were overwhelmed by the proposals, choosing among 106 cases submitted by 87 international cities. They had initially planned on just 30 projects.

The 51 projects not chosen for six-month display may still be seen as one-day events or 10-day exhibitions. Three spots will be left open for projects to be built by developing countries.

The projects all feature innovative solutions to urban problems and issues, such as water treatment, energy conservation, transport, social interaction, and bringing residents into closer contact with nature.

Organizers chose 29 European cities, the majority. Ten cases come from Chinese cities, including one from Hong Kong, one from Macau and two from Taiwan.

Asia has 15, the United States and Canada five, South America two, Africa two, and Oceania (Brisbane, Australia) one. There's a joint project in educating children about energy conservation by Bonn, Germany, and Bukhara, an ancient city in Uzbekistan.

Among the 55 cases, 15 realty (real estate) projects, presenting real architecture and landscapes, can be seen in the "Simulated City Blocks" that will be constructed in the northern part of the 15-hectare UBPA. Others are more suitable for exhibitions and multi-media presentations, such as car-pooling.

The 15 projects will not be stand-alone, but integrated into the city blocks, creating the feeling of being in an urban environment.

"Many projects have striking features. All these cases have real models and they are successful practices. They are enlightening in terms of the influence they will have on people's lifestyles," said Zhou Hanmin, deputy director-general of the Bureau of Shanghai World Expo Coordination.

The list includes Shanghai's green building demonstration project, Shanghai-EcoHousing. Other best practices include Madrid's New Horizons for Public Housing, and The Tent City of Mina from the Saudi Arabian city of Mecca.

Projects like the "Vegetable Wall" from Paris and "The Revival of the Bicycle" from Odense, Denmark, will be combined with other cases.

Three vacancies in the Simulated City Blocks will be reserved for developing countries that have not yet presented their ideas.

"We can't deny that European cities have better experiences in urban development, but we are seeking balance among different continents and between developing and developed nations," said Zhou.

Shanghai's neighboring cities will also take part. Suzhou, Jiangsu Province, will showcase the protection and renovation of its old town. Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, will display how it fights pollution and treats water in scenic West Lake in the project "Harnessing Five Waters."

Hong Kong will showcase how Smart cards have improved people's daily lives and Macau will explain how it renovated the historical pawnshop Tak Seng On.

The two Taipei city cases are "Wireless Taipei, Taipei Infinity" demonstrating the city's Wi-fi network and "Total Recycling, Zero Landfill, Working Towards City Sustainability" on solid waste management.