News

Bilbao will be attending the Shanghai Expo as a model for urban renewal, thanks to the extraordinary urban revolution that has taken place in Bilbao over the last 25 years. The great innovations in the Estuary area and the so-called ''Guggenheim Effect'' have been an example over this time to other cities in the world that are involved in similar processes.

"The most important thing to get a better city is to improve infraestructures, the neccesary installations for citizens, for instance, to improve or extend pedestrian precints", said the Deputy chief designer of the China pavilion Yang Ni in his visit in Bilbao.

“Bilbao was an indurstial city some time ago, now it is a famous city due to tourism and culture”, said Hong Kong Biennale curator Ou Ning.

The 2010 Shanghai Expo will be an excellent showcase for Bilbao, chosen from 113 proposals from 87 cities worldwide to take part in the Urban Best Practices Area -a pioneering initiative forming part of the Universal Exposition and which will feature a total of 55 projects- in the Liveable City section.

The Shanghai Expo will be held from 1 May to 31 October 2010 in a 310-hectare space in the Pudong district on the banks of the River Huangpu. It is expected that Shanghai World Expo 2010 generates the largest number of visitors (70 millions) in the history of the Bureau International des Expositions, beating the record currently held by the 1970 Expo in Osaka, which makes it an event of extraordinary international relevance.

"Better City, Better Life", is the theme of 2010 Shanghai Expo representing the common wish of the whole humankind for a better living in future urban environments.

Apart from Bilbao, Barcelona will also be participating in the Liveable City section and Madrid and Santiago de Compostela also have been selected, Madrid for its construction of buildings with sustainability criteria and Santiago for the exemplary recovery of its historic centre.