Expo City to open in October this year
Dubai: His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai has just announced the transformation plan of Expo 2020 site.
The Expo 2020 site will be now known as “Expo City Dubai” and is scheduled to open on October 1, 2022.
A human-centric city accessible only by pedestrians with no cars, “Expo City Dubai” will be an environment-friendly and car-free city with buggies, scooters, bicycles to be used to transport residents and its visitors.
After the historical success of Expo 2020 Dubai,visited by more than 24 million visitors & left a mark in the 170-year history of World Expositions. Today we announce transformation of the exhibition site into Expo City Dubai, a new city that represents the ambitions of Dubai. pic.twitter.com/baB7iCdlVb
— HH Sheikh Mohammed (@HHShkMohd) June 20, 2022
Ina series of tweets, Sheikh Mohammed outlined his vision for the legacy site.
“After the historical success of Expo 2020 Dubai, visited by more than 24 million visitors, left a mark in the 170-year history of world expositions, today we announce the transformation of the exhibition site into Expo City Dubai, a new city that represents the ambitions of Dubai,” Sheikh Mohammed wrote.
“Expo City Dubai will be an environmentally-friendly city that caters to families and future generations.
“A city connected to a port and two airports, and also to beautiful memories in the hearts and minds of millions of people.”
The new Expo City Dubai will be home to a new museum, a world-class exhibition center and the headquarters of cutting edge & fast-growing companies. It will continue to host some pavilions like Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Egypt and others.
“It will be a city that embodies the dreams of every city,” says Sheikh Mohammed.
The city will represent “the beautiful ambitions of Dubai”, he added. “The magic of expo will continue”.
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Expo City Dubai: The Car-free city
Expo City will be fully pedestrianised with no cars or other heavy vehicles. This initiative is carried out to forward the sustainability legacy of Expo 2020.
The city will be environment-friendly
On of the senior official, Ahmed Al Khatib said, “tenants will be able to take advantage of soft mobility”.
“We are looking at different ways of soft mobility like buggies, scooters and bicycles etc. We will also encourage public transportation and as well as more and more integration of metro station”, he added.
The city will be free of Single-use plastic
Expo City Dubai will be free of single-use plastic. The city will retain 80% of the infrastructure and the buildings that have been constructed with more than 120 LEED certified buildings.
The new city is set to be vibrant, human centric smart driven by sustainability innovation, education and entertainment.
“It will also be the first WELL-certified community in the region, demonstrating the built environment’s positive impact on health and wellness.”, said Al Khatib.
Pavilions and attractions that will remain in the new city
Pavilions to remain in Expo City include Women’s Pavilion, which showcases the exceptional xaccomplishments of women, world-famous and unknown, and the stunning Vision Pavilion, honouring the vision of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai.
Alif, the Mobility Pavilion and Terra, the Sustainability Pavilion, will remain as interactive educational experiences. The Opportunity pavilion will be converted into a new museum – Expo 2020 Dubai Museum, highlighting the history of world expos and telling the successful story of Dubai’s six-month hosting of the Expo event.
Other country pavilions include Kingdom of Saudi Arabia pavilion, UAE pavilion, and other reworked versions of Luxembourg, Australia, Pakistan, India, Morocco and Egypt pavilions of which announcement will come in the following months.
Attractions that will stay include the iconic Wasl Plaza, the Garden in the Sky observation tower and the Surreal water feature.
“Al Wasl will continue to shine, the waterfall will continue to delight, and the UAE, Alif and Terra pavilions will continue to fascinate visitors of all ages,” said Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the Ruler of Dubai.
