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On November 18th 1999, the Chinese government officially decided that Shanghai would compete to become the site of the Universal Exposition 2010. With local and international support, Shanghai obtained the title of host city on December 3rd 2002 during the 132nd general assembly of the International Expositions Office (BIE, by its French acronym). Shanghai 2010 was taking shape as the most impressive universal exposition of all times.
With more than five square kilometers, the fair site, situated in a rehabilitated old industrial zone, extends on both sides of the Huangpu river (which divides the city in two) and is the largest in the history of universal expositions. The area where the pavilions stand occupies 3 square kilometers and has the latest in ecological technology. The rest consists of green areas, service installations and the Expo Village, a residential area built on the Pudong side and beside the Lupu bridge.
The fair site is made up of 5 zones which are in turn divided into groups distributed into clusters. There are a total of 12 groups and 26 clusters, each cluster measures more or less 25 hectares and has toilets, telephones, food stalls and other basic services. The countries are arranged according to the continent they come from.
It is worth underscoring the infrastructure improvements that Shanghai carried out to facilitate the exposition’s optimum performance, such as the notable expansion of the metro network, the new terminal at the Pudong airport or the creation of an express train to Beijing.
