WORLD EXPO PATCH
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This comprehensive ecosystem extends beyond the park, becoming part of the neighboring green belt, and influencing the city’s urban fabric.

WORLD EXPO PATCH

Diverse plant communities are introduced not only to increase the user’s experience, but also to build a variety of wildlife habitats and serve as a valuable ecological patch in the heart of the city. It also adapts working landscapes to build green infrastructure in the vein of the “sponge city” concept.

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The design scheme for the park integrates a series of phytoremediation strategies into the spatial experience, including soil and groundwater remediation, stormwater management, and sewage treatment. To begin remediating the site, heavily contaminated soil was removed prior to the 2010 EXPO, while less contaminated soil and groundwater were left untreated. With its recent history as an industrial brownfield, the soil of the Houtan area is contaminated by heavy metals and organic solvents. These unique programs paired with the seasonality created by diverse selection of flowering and foliage plants that will attract visitors from Shanghai and throughout the country. Together, these zones form an engaging and varied linkage through the park. Through programming, seven distinct zones are identified: Community Gardens, Wetland Islands, Diverse Culture Ground, World Gardens, Event Lawn, Service Plazas, and the existing Houtan Park. Four themed corridors-the River Link Corridor, Culture Corridor, Energy Corridor, and the Nature Corridor-serve as the connecting framework for the park.

The park will become a destination for multiple user groups with a wide variety of activities, reflecting a culture of equity and openness. The landscape framework for the park then builds upon this spine, linking the riverfront and the city, and the east and west banks of the Huangpu River vernacular features, such as field-textured gardens, factory building-turned-showrooms, and remaining reused country pavilions are interpretations of the varied history of the site. The designation of this spine focuses on restoring environmental quality in the area.

The site is aligned along an ecological “spine” which connects the Huangpu River with the open space corridor to the south. This allows the creation of strong connections to existing riverfront parks and a proposed EXPO green corridor, as well as areas of mixed-use development and transit connections to surrounding urban districts. The design vision of the Cultural Park integrates and re-connects the site into the larger ecosystem and urban context of the city. The park celebrates the unique ecological, cultural, and innovative contexts of the site’s history, and will be the largest riverfront green space in the City Center. As one of the two finalists in an international design competition, Sasaki proposed a design scheme which creates a unique destination-a gift for the people of Shanghai to enjoy. In the Spring of 2017, the City of Shanghai decided to transform this site once again-this time, into the EXPO Cultural Park. After the EXPO, many of the pavilions were demolished, while a portion of the site was converted to active recreational programing. The EXPO focused on the concept of “Better City-Better Life,” and symbolized the beginning of the site’s post-industrial rebirth. The opening of the Shanghai EXPO 2010, the largest World Exposition in history, represents yet another new chapter of the site’s history. As a visual focal point from the west bank of the Huangpu River, this land has evolved over the decades: from natural wetland, to farmland with an expansive canal system for irrigation, to a base for heavy industry.

Info about the Bureau of International Exhibitions - Sanctioning body for international exposition (world's fairs) headquartered in Paris, France.The EXPO Cultural Park is located in the Houtan area of the Pudong District in Shanghai. The development is currently being utilized for in-house publishing projects, but is not available for work-for-hire decuments or consulting. More info about the World's Fair Decision Model, development of the model, the study participants, etc.

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