BEYOND NATIONAL IDENTITY, READING OF WATERFRONT EXPO URBANISM SINCE 1992

Abstract

World Exposition, so called Expo has been an important event since 1851 London Expo. The exhibits and architecture pavilions have been the key features of each expo. While Expo improves communication, demonstrates progress and innovation of technology, this great event has its temporary nature. Thus, whether it is still sustainable to spend large amount of resource to construct a temporary event for the world should be pondered on. The findings of this dissertation conclude a change of Expo from a temporary event towards a permanent urban project since 1992. Expo planning is a catalyst for urban transformation of the host city; it is beyond nationalism or expo theme. The methodology of this dissertation is to use 4 water front Expos since 1992 as case study subjects, analyze each city’s expo site selection, expo planning and its response to existing urban context. The contribution of this dissertation is the study on the urban planning and urban design aspects of 4 water front Expos concludes a direction for world Exposition: Expo as a generator of urban development should go beyond the boundary of Expo site, go beyond the requirements of Bureau of International Expositions (BIE) , go beyond the time constraint of Expo event preparation.