Q. Where is Expo 2010 being held?
A. Expo 2010 is being staged in Shanghai, China. It is the first time in the 159-year-old history of world’s fairs that it has been held in a developing country. Before this, world’s fairs have been held in London, Paris, Philadelphia, Chicago, New York, Montreal, New Orleans, and other notable cities whose countries used the occasion to boost their fortunes and thrust themselves onto the economic world stage. With China now the second-largest economy in the world (next to the United States) and economic productivity bolting upward by an average of 4 percent since 1990, according to the Union Bank of Switzerland, Expo 2010 is expected to show that China and Shanghai are ready for prime time.
Q. Who is responsible for Expo 2010?
A. While the Chinese government essentially oversees the location, logistics, and construction of Expo 2010, the governing body that sets the rules for it and other world’s fairs is the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE). Based in Paris, the BIE was established in 1928 by an international convention. The nations that convened that year endowed the BIE with the power to select and schedule world expos. Additionally, the BIE establishes the rights and responsibilities of those who produce and take part in these fairs. Prior to 1928, international exhibitions were staged according to the whims and caprices of the country that held them.
Currently the 140 member nations of the BIE meet twice a year in Paris. Membership in the BIE is open to any country that agrees to abide by the 1928 Convention and the 1972 Protocol on International Exhibitions.
While the United States helped found the BIE, it is no longer a member of the international organization. Interest domestically in world fairs waned with the underwhelming 1982 World’s Fair in Knoxville, TN, and the 1984 Louisiana World’s Fair in New Orleans. (“The Simpsons” lampooned the Knoxville expo in the 1996 episode “Bart on the Road” and the New Orleans effort was the first world’s fair to go broke during its run.) In 1995, a Washington think tank castigated the annual BIE dues of $25,000 as “pork-barrel spending” and in 2001, under the Bush administration, the United States defaulted on its membership by simply skipping its dues. While the new administration may part ways with its predecessor on many issues, there seems to be no visible difference in its indifference to the BIE.
Q. Is the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE) responsible for any trade shows?
A. No. The BIE’s jurisdiction extends only to international exhibitions run by governments. It does not cover, for example, fine arts expos, fairs that run less than three weeks, or commercial exhibitions. Thus, that rules out trade shows.
Q. What kinds of international exhibitions does the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE) oversee?
A. Basically, there are two kinds: world expos (aka international registered exhibitions, world’s fairs, or universal expositions) and international/specialized expos (also called international recognized expositions).
Since, 1960, the BIE has also covered a third type, known as international horticultural exhibitions. While these can be extensive, and, as evidenced by their name, attract a global audience, they are not considered in the same league as world expos.
Q. What are the differences between world expos and international/specialized expos?
A. The most salient distinctions are those of scale and chronology. Starting with the 21st century, world expos can now occur every five years, in years that end with a 5 or a 0 (e.g., 2005, 2010, 2015), while international/specialized expos can take place any time between two world expos – such as the upcoming one in Yeosu, South Korea, in 2012. World expos can now last as long as six months (in the past, some ran for two years, such as Chicago’s Century of Progress Exposition which stretched from 1933 to 1934, and New York’s World’s Fair, which took place from 1964 to 1965), but international/specialized expos can run for no more than three months. World expos can be staged over an unlimited amount of space, though international/specialized expos are constrained to a maximum of 25 hectares (about 62 acres, or 2.7 million square feet).
There are two other key distinctions that bear mentioning. In world expos, the participating countries and other organizations must construct their own pavilions, while in international/specialized expos, the show organizer builds pavilions, then makes areas within them available to participants.
Finally, the themes in world expos must reflect what the BIE calls a ”universal concern.” For example, Expo 2010’s motto is “Better City, Better Life,” addressing the urban ills that scourge the world’s municipalities. By contrast, the theme of the 2012 international/specialized expo in Yeosu, South Korea, is “The Living Ocean and Coast” – a vital concern, certainly, but it smacks more of an educational museum exhibit rather than a Herculean challenge for all mankind.
Q. When are the next expos scheduled to take place?
A. After the one in Shanghai, the next BIE fair is scheduled for Yeosu, South Korea, in 2012. Its theme will be ”The Living Ocean and Coast.” Yeosu’s fair is technically an international/specialized expo, which is by definition smaller in size, shorter in duration, and less ambitious in theme than the average world expo — such as the one slated for Milan in 2015. The 2015 World’s Expo in Milan will transpire under theme, ”Feeding the planet, energy for life.”
Q. How large are the Expo 2010 grounds?
A. Measuring 528 hectares (1,305 acres), Expo 2010 is the most massive in the 159-year-old history of world’s fairs. To give you an idea of the scale, the previous expo, held in Zaragoza, Spain in 2008, could fit inside Expo 2010’s grounds 20 times. Indeed, the fair is so large, it could contain the country of Monaco inside its own borders — twice. Another estimate says Mount Everest would fit inside Expo 2010 nearly six times.
While considered a huge undertaking even in an era of 2,000-foot-tall skyscrapers, Expo 2010 isn’t an anomaly for world’s fairs. Starting with the 1904 Louisiana Purchase Exposition in St. Louis — which, impressively, was 97 percent the size of the Shanghai expo, despite the limited logistics and technology of the time – expos began to manifest the peculiar American trait of “bigger is better,” becoming titanic, transient, cities within themselves.
The list below shows the ebb and flow of various expo’s sizes from the earliest one to the latest.
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|
| Expo/City/Year |
Size |
| Great Exhibition of the Works of All Nations/London/1851 |
26 acres |
| Exhibition of the Industry of All Nations/New York/1853 |
4 acres |
| Centennial International Exhibition/Philadelphia/1876 |
284 acres |
| Exposition Universelle/Paris/1889 |
237 acres |
| World’s Columbian Exposition/Chicago/1893 |
686 acres |
| Louisiana Purchase Exposition/St. Louis/1904 |
1,272 acres |
| Century of Progress Exposition/Chicago/1933 |
1,200 acres |
| New York World’s Fair/New York/1939 |
1,200 acres |
| New York World’s Fair/New York/1964 |
650 acres |
| Expo ‘67/Montreal/1967 |
1,013 acres |
| Expo ‘70/Osaka, Japan/1970 |
815 acres |
| 1984 Louisiana Worlds Fair/New Orleans/1984 |
150 acres |
| Expo ‘92 Seville, Spain/1992 |
531 acres |
| Expo 2000/ Hanover/Germany/2000 |
395 acres |
| Expo 2005, Aichi Prefecture/2005 |
496 acres |
| Expo 2010/Shanghai/2010 |
1,305 acres |
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