The March 27 “logo launch” event at Dubai Mall Fountain will once again focus minds on progress towards the landmark Expo 2020 and its impact on the United Arab Emirates. In this article, Director-General of the Dubai Expo 2020 and Minister of State for International Cooperation, Reem Al Hashimy, considers the potential legacy of the Expo for the city and the nation.
Come join us
At 6.30pm on a Sunday evening ten days from now, thousands of people will gather in front of Burj Khalifa to discover the results of our quest to identify the emblem that will take Expo 2020 through to its opening ceremony and beyond.
We are aiming to make this a citywide celebration of commitment, ingenuity and inspiration and a revelation of something very wonderful. It will also represent a major milestone on our journey to Expo 2020 and beyond.
It is now just over four years since the first bids were requested by the Bureau of International Expositions (BIE) for the Universal Exposition for 2020 and a little over two years since Dubai finally emerged triumphant from the bidding process.
Sure, steady progress
It might seem as if all is calm and quiet but; like the swan seemingly gliding serene on the water, motion is generated by some energetic paddling below the surface.
In truth, a great deal has happened, with serious work starting well before Dubai was officially crowned Expo 2020 city in November last year.
We have developed a well thought out strategy and are now moving forward, turning our vision into reality. Some five million cubic metres of earth have already been moved as we prepare the 438-hectare Expo 2020 site for the next phases of construction. We are now fully focused on delivering a successful Expo, with a very full and clear programme.
This programme includes finalising the design of the master plan assets in the years leading up to the end of 2017. This paves the way for Expo 2020, as well as the national and corporate participants to begin constructing their pavilions over the subsequent two years.
Connecting Minds: Creating the Future
Over the final two years of the programme, the site will really start to take shape as we create exciting exhibits and transform the land to an active and inspiring destination that gives reality to our overall theme “Connecting Minds: Creating the Future”.
Earlier this week, we announced winners of the Theme Pavilion design competition, involving 13 of the world’s top architectural firms.
Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG), a group of architects, designers, builders and thinkers based in Copenhagen, submitted the winning design for the Opportunity Pavilion, with the internationally-renowned Foster + Partners, awarded the Mobility Pavilion with another illustrious London-based practice, Grimshaw Architects, given the Sustainability Pavilion.
The legacy question
The question of “Legacy” is always a hotly debated one for any mega event: what does it leave behind that is of true long-term value for the host country? In the early days of the Expo Movement, through the 19th and 20th centuries, it was more or less accepted that the legacy would be physical in the form of structures, parks, buildings and campuses. Occasionally, these structures would be memorable and iconic, most notably the Eiffel Tower in Paris (1889), Barcelona’s Montjuic Park (1924), Brussels’ Atomium (1958) and Seattle’s Space Needle (1962).
However, in the modern era, legacy design and planning has become considerably more sophisticated with legacy designed and built into the original bid and becoming a key success criterion. Of course, the site’s incredible architecture, infrastructure and facilities will form a lasting physical legacy for Dubai. Our active collaboration with local and international corporate partners will ensure that the Expo site will incorporate the very latest technology and global best practice for long-term use, whether in connecting businesses to opportunities, exploiting Big Data, or helping people to plan their visits and minimising queuing. Looking to the future, we are developing the Expo site to give it a life that extends far beyond 2021 as a cradle for emerging technologies.
There will also be a tangible economic legacy, generated through the additional estimated Dh71.5 billion that construction, hosting and ongoing business will generate for the UAE economy during and after the Expo, and the stimulation of knowledge-intensive businesses based in and around the Expo site.
The human factor
However, I would argue that these will not be the most significant long-term legacies of the event. In one sense, Expo 2020 will inevitably generate a moral and emotional legacy. This will, after all, be the first universal exposition ever hosted in the Middle East and by an Arab nation. This fact cannot but raise the profile of the region and alter overall perceptions of our culture and abilities.
But perhaps the most significant legacy of all will be the human one. It is the people, after all, who are at the heart of Expo2020 Dubai; it belongs to all of us in the UAE. With so many ways to take part and so many connections to be made, Expo 2020 will touch the lives of all UAE residents. We are all the co-hosts of this magnificent event.
Some 25 million visitors, from over 180 countries, will bring their eclectic ideas and diverse cultures to Dubai. Through hundreds of millions of individual conversations and human interactions, they will learn more about the UAE’s rich culture and heritage, enhancing our reputational legacy. The national pride and empowerment generated by this mega event will contribute to a lasting social legacy among all who live in the UAE.
And in those same interactions, ideas and initiatives will be born, leading to countless possibilities for creating a better world.
Expo 2020 has the ambition of “Connecting Minds, Creating the Future” by bringing together cultures from across the globe and playing host to people who bring insight into what is possible in the realms of opportunity, mobility and sustainability. Visitors will be treated to a showcase of human ingenuity that will inspire wonder among all who experience it and even more importantly, set thoughts flowing in new directions.
Connecting with stakeholders
Through a number of different brainstorming sessions, we are connecting with a wide range of different stakeholders, who can add profound thinking and lustre, helping us on our journey towards Expo 2020, through several initiatives. Young people form a particularly key audience and through the YouthConnect series, we aim to inspire them to take leading roles in the journey to 2020 and beyond. The first YouthConnect event took place last November, allowing hundreds of the best and brightest young minds in the country to participate in a full day of speakers, workshops and practical life coaching sessions, all designed by young people for their peers. Building on that success, we are preparing for an even bigger and better YouthConnect this year and every year to 2020.
Businesses of all sizes are also vital to turning the Expo 2020 vision into a reality. We have tapped into their potential through several of our BusinessConnect meetings: interactive and collaborative conferences designed to engage with leaders in the local business community. The meetings so far have covered Positioning, ICT, SMEs and “Edutainment”. BusinessConnect meetings on Architecture and Design are also taking place today and tomorrow, with further sessions on Sustainability and Design, and Operations to come.
Sparking the flame
Our commitment to SMEs is visible in our partnership with Wamda, in effect a corporate mentoring programme for the growing number of small businesses and start-ups in Mena (Middle East and North Africa).
As a first step towards corporate involvement, Expo’s E-Sourcing Portal provides a simple, secure and efficient means for all businesses to engage with Expo and to manage their sourcing activities. The portal enables the global business community to connect to Expo 2020’s tender opportunities openly and transparently.
Expo 2020 will be a unique and inspiring experience. It really starts in earnest as we begin to turn our shared dreams into reality under a new emblem at the Dubai Mall Fountains under the Burj Khalifa at 6.30pm on Sunday March 27. I hope you all join us.
