| The city is a crystallisation of human civilisation. Just as the American
social philosopher Lewis Mumford put it,"the city is a special structure which,
fine and compact, has been designed to preserve the fruits of human
civilisation." Many Western languages have derived their versions of the term
"civilisation" from the same Latin word "civitas"(meaning "city" ), and it is by
no means a coincidence. By virtue of its embracing and regenerating nature, the
city has played a significant role in the perfection of order in human society.
In 1800, only 2 percent of the global population lived in cities, but by
1950, the figure had risen to 29 percent, and by 2000, almost half the world
population had moved into cities. The United Nations estimates the urban
population will account for 55 percent of the total human population by 2010.
Despite all its glories, there is no denying that the city today, because of
high-density living patterns, faces a series of challenges, such as spatial
conflicts, cultural collisions, resource shortages and environment degeneration.
Without effective controls, the unchecked expansion of cities will aggravate
these problems and consequently erode the quality of urban life.
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Our Expo
Theme - Better City, Better Life
(meaning the
world), the design conveys the organizer's wish to host an Expo which is of
global scale and which showcases the diversified urban cultures of the world.
