【英语中国】上海世博：不惜代价的憧憬

Shanghai these days is not just a city that never sleeps – it is a city that plants whole landscapes in the dark.

One recent evening in the city's famous old French Concession, dumper trucks and excavators were working feverishly to complete a Metro station. The next morning, not only was there a fully functioning new Metro line but an avenue of fully grown shade trees, planted alongside a newly laid mosaic pathway.

“Shanghai did in 15 years what London did in 150,” says Wu Zhiqiang, professor of urban planning at Tongji University. Begun in 1995, the Metro system for China's commercial capital has doubled in reach to 420km in just the past year.

There is a reason for the rush: the imminent arrival of an expected 100m visitors. Shanghai is about to host the biggest World Expo in history. It is the next act in a rebranding of China that began with the 2008 Beijing Olympics and gained in substance when China emerged from the global financial crisis virtually unscathed. The Shanghai Expo, for which Professor Wu is chief planner, opens tomorrow night and runs until October 31.

The cost is estimated at $55bn (￡36bn, ￠42bn) – more than twice what Beijing spent on the Olympics. But if Shanghai's city fathers are right, it will have an impact, on both Shanghai and China (not to mention on the future of the Expo model), for decades to come.

Kevin Wale, head of General Motors in China, one of Shanghai Expo's biggest corporate sponsors, calls it “the Olympics of technology”. But the mere notion of splashing out so lavishly on what used to be called World's Fairs has been out of favour globally for decades. From the Eiffel Tower to the US superhighway system to caramel corn, Expos have given the west some of its most memorable innovation. But many of the really famous Expos took place in the 19th century – including London in 1851, with its Crystal Palace.

Startlingly, the genesis of the Shanghai Expo dates back almost that far, according to Tu Qiyu of the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences: influential Shanghainese first started pushing for it in the early years of the last century, when Shanghai was known as the Paris of the Orient.

Since then, Shanghai's fortunes have waxed and waned but it remains very much China's second city: it is Beijing, for instance, that regulates its equity markets. Expo is aimed, as much as anything, at promoting Shanghai's image within China: only 5 per cent of Expo visitors are expected to be from overseas.

To get ready for them, virtually every street has been repaved, street-facing walls have been repainted and new drains have been dug. Inevitably, some of the work has been shoddy: workmen were back within days to re-lay the path near the French Concession Metro station.

“The only thing we Chinese care about is face: we will even waste money to put make-up on the city; even when there is no need to repave a road, we will still do it,” says Prof Tu, appointed by the Shanghai government to do a study on Expo. He admits that no one really knows how much the city has spent on it, since every local government is spending, without co-ordination: official figures range from Rmb300bn ($44bn, ￠33bn ￡29bn) to Rmb400bn but Jones Lang LaSalle, the property services firm, estimates infrastructure investments made or brought forward for Expo boost the total cost to $95bn.

The Expo site itself – 5.3 sq km along the banks of the Huangpu river – has been adorned with more than 200 national, corporate and municipal pavilions, filled with visions of a future where urban living is clean, green and techno-geeky. Like the Oriental Pearl Tower, which symbolised all that was futuristic in 1990s Shanghai, the flying saucer shape of the Expo performance centre is destined to grace postcards and web pages as the new face of Shanghai.

The big international presence attests to China's growing influence. While the Olympics was a show that China put on for the world, Expo is a performance that the world is putting on for China, says Da Shan, Canada's expo commissioner. Put bluntly, countries and companies from around the world did not dare snub the rising and occasionally abrasive power by not turning up.

When the US risked not being able to participate (because American law forbids Washington from footing the bill), Hillary Clinton, secretary of state, put the squeeze on US multinationals and came up with $60m in a matter of months. Expo demonstrates not just the rising confidence of Shanghai and of China but also the eagerness of the rest of the world to remain on its good side.

To prepare, the city government has been overhauling residents' attitudes as well – part of what it calls a “spiritual civilisation” campaign. Some of the 170,000 Expo volunteers have been formed into behavioural adjustment squads: they patrol Metro stations urging people to stand to the right on escalators; they discourage spitting, queue jumping, pushing and shouting – all well-loved Shanghainese habits; they penalise smoking in public places; and they even go door-to-door urging residents not to wear pyjamas in public. Some have fought back, saying they want the freedom to choose their own wardrobe.

Expo's theme is “Better city, better life” and some benefits are already evident: Expo has commissioned lavatory technology where toilets expel odours from below nose level. That may be a better claim to fame than even caramel corn.

Yet for a city that aims to lead the world in sustainable urban development, preparing for Expo has hardly demonstrated Shanghai's credentials in that regard: tracts of traditional housing were knocked down in a heedless rush to the future that risks eradicating its history.

Chen Hangfeng, a Shanghai artist, is one of a handful willing to criticise Expo. He recently exhibited his “Bubble City, Bubble Life”, a cage built to enclose a constant stream of bubbles, almost all of which are destined to crash and burst against its wire mesh walls. “Expo is like a dream machine, generating all sorts of utopian, futuristic ideas that will never be realised,” he says. His sculpture formed part of a recent Expo protest exhibit at Shanghai's OV gallery, which also showcased photographs of a house torn down while its owners were out challenging the demolition in court.

“Money has been gradually taking the city and ripping out its soul,” says one long-time foreign resident. With its generic shopping malls, its Starbucks and its ubiquitous Gucci shops, “it is hard to find what is interesting about Shanghai these days”.

Profs Wu and Tu agree – but they think Expo can help combat that trend. The quality of urban housing is one of the biggest social problems China has today, says Prof Tu. Expo will be a six-month seminar in how to solve those problems, they say.

For beyond all the eye-candy – neon levitating dandelions (the UK pavilion) and mutant purple silkworms (Japan) – Expo will also exhibit the newest technologies to help make cities liveable. There are GM cars so light and smart that they can park themselves in the broom closet of an urban high-rise – and cities automated by Cisco, where an incident involving hazardous material instantly triggers plans to divert buses, close schools and factories, alert hospital specialists and chase away the noxious fumes.

Some pavilions change shape according to the movements – or even the feelings – of the people inside; others give visitors hand-held “dream machines” where they can plot a mythical collective future. The Coca-Cola pavilion promises a “Happiness Clinic” for those overwhelmed by the presence of 800,000 other humans (the maximum on any day).

By hosting the show, China is finally shouldering its responsibility to the environment, says Prof Wu. The Swiss pavilion has soyabean walls; Hanover House stays at 25C year-round without using conventional heating or cooling; Expo uses river water for cooling and has parking only for electric buses, not cars. And though almost every pavilion must be discarded afterwards under Expo rules, they are all 100 per cent recyclable, according to organisers.

Some Expos are seminal events in the history of a city or country: GM at the 1939 New York Expo is credited with inventing the superhighway system that transformed America less than 20 years later. Whatever else emerges from this Expo, Shanghai will enjoy the benefits of vastly improved infrastructure for decades to come – infrastructure that could help in its ambition to become a global financial centre by 2020.

Perhaps Shanghai will be one of those Expos that lives in the memories of those that visit them for decades. For $55bn, it had better be.

这些天，上海不仅是座不夜城，还是一座在夜幕中彻底改头换面的城市。

不久前的一个晚上，在上海著名的法租界老区，翻斗车和挖掘机紧张地忙碌着，为一座地铁站收尾。次日清晨，出现在人们眼前的不仅是一条全面投入运行的新地铁线，还有一条郁郁葱葱的林荫大道，加上马赛克铺就的新人行道。

上海15年=伦敦150年？ 同济大学城市规划学教授吴志强表示：“上海用15年时间完成了伦敦用150年才做完的事情。”上海地铁系统的建设始于1995年，但仅在过去一年，总运营里程就延长了一倍，突破420公里。

这样匆忙是有理由的：预计即将有1亿参观者前来上海。上海正主办有史以来规模最大的世博会，而这将是为中国重塑品牌的又一幕——重塑品牌始于2008年北京奥运会，随着中国几乎毫发无损地摆脱了全球金融危机，这一进程越来越有底气。由吴志强担任总规划师的上海世博会，已在4月30日晚开幕，将一直持续到10月31日。

本届世博会总成本预计为550亿美元，是北京奥运会花费的两倍以上。但如果上海市的当家人是对的，它将在今后几十年对上海乃至整个中国产生深远的影响（且不提世博会模式的未来）。

通用汽车(GM)中国公司总裁甘文维(Kevin Wale)将上海世博会称为“科技奥运会”。通用中国是本届世博会的最大企业赞助商之一。但近几十年来，为举办一届世博会而如此铺张浪费的观念，已失去了世界各国的青睐。从埃菲尔铁塔，到美国高速公路系统，到焦糖玉米，世博会曾为西方世界带来一些最难忘的创新。但许多真正著名的世博会是在19世纪举行的，包括以水晶宫闻名的1851年伦敦世博会。

令人吃惊的是，上海世博会的起源几乎可以追溯到同样遥远的过去。据上海社科院的屠启宇介绍，上世纪初，有势力的上海人便开始争取世博举办权——当时的上海被誉为东方的巴黎。

此后，上海的命运跌宕起伏，但一直是中国排名第二的城市：比如，监管上海股市的是北京。举办世博会的重要目的之一，是提升上海在中国国内的形象：预计仅有5%的参观者将来自海外。

为了筹备世博会，上海几乎重铺了所有街道，重新粉刷了临街的墙面，挖了新的下水道。其中不可避免地有一些劣质工程：没过几天，工人们就回来重铺法租界地铁站附近的人行道。

“中国人唯一在意的就是面子” “我们中国人唯一在意的就是面子：我们肯为了美化城市而劳民伤财；即使那条路没必要重铺，我们仍会去做，”屠启宇教授表示。他受上海市政府指派，进行一项世博会研究。他承认，没有人真正清楚上海为此花了多少钱，因为各个地方政府都在毫无协调地自行支出：官方数字在3000亿元人民币（合440亿美元）至4000亿元人民币之间，但地产服务公司仲量联行(Jones Lang Lasalle)估计，上海为世博会投入或提前的基础设施投资，将总成本推到了950亿美元。

坐落于黄浦江畔的世博园区方圆5.3平方公里，园内竖起了200多座国家、企业和市政场馆，集中展示了各方对未来的憧憬：洁净、绿色、高科技的城市生活。与象征着上海上世纪90年代所有未来主义元素的东方明珠塔一样，飞碟状的世博文化中心注定会作为上海的新面孔，出现在明信片和网页上。

庞大的国际参展阵容，证明了中国的影响力在与日俱增。加拿大国家馆总代表大山称，奥运会是中国献给世界的一场演出，而世博会则是世界献给中国的一场演出。不客气地讲，世界各国和企业不敢不露面，怠慢这个正在崛起、偶尔态度傲慢的大国。

当美国有可能无法参加（因为美国法律禁止政府为此掏腰包）时，国务卿希拉里•克林顿(Hillary Clinton)向美国各跨国公司施压，最终在几个月内凑出了6000万美元。世博会不仅证明了上海乃至中国日益增强的信心，还彰显了世界其它地区与中国交好的渴望。

挨家挨户劝市民不要穿睡衣上街 ，为了筹备世博会，上海市政府一直在彻底纠正市民的行为习惯，作为所谓“精神文明”活动的一部分。世博会共有17万名志愿者，其中一部分组成了纠正不良行为的小组：他们在地铁站里巡逻，敦促人们站在自动扶梯的右侧；劝阻人们随地吐痰、插队、推搡和大声叫嚷——这些都是上海人难以改掉的习惯；对在公共场所吸烟的人进行处罚；甚至挨家挨户地劝说市民不要在公共场所穿睡衣。但一些市民反驳称，他们希望有选择自己着装的自由。

本届世博会的主题是“城市，让生活更美好”，而一些好处已经显现出来：新的厕所技术已在本届世博会中投入使用。这些厕所散发出的异味很小，人的鼻子闻不出来。这甚至可能比焦糖玉米还有助于赚得名声。

不过，对于一座要在可持续城市发展方面引领全球的城市而言，世博会的筹备工作几乎没有证明上海有能力做到这一点：大片的传统住宅被拆除，这种不顾后果奔向未来的做法，有可能彻底毁掉它的历史。

上海艺术家陈航峰是少数几个愿意批评世博会的人之一。不久前，他展出了自己的作品“泡沫城市, 泡沫人生”。一个铁笼子包围着一串不间断的泡沫，几乎所有的泡沫最终都会撞上笼壁的铁丝网，然后破裂。“世博会就像一个造梦机器，产生各种各样永远无法实现的乌托邦未来主义想法，”他说。这件作品是不久前在上海OV画廊举办的世博会抗议展览的一部分。展览中还展出了一组照片，照片中一座房屋被拆除，而房主当时正在法庭上挑战拆迁行为。

“金钱逐渐主宰了这座城市” ，一位久居上海的外国人说：“金钱逐渐主宰了这座城市，抽空了它的灵魂。”到处是无特色的购物中心、星巴克(Starbucks)和无处不在的古琦(Gucci)店，“如今上海已很难找到有意思的东西。”

吴志强和屠启宇二人均同意这一点，但他们认为世博会能帮助扭转这一趋势。屠启宇称，城市居住品质是当今中国最严峻的社会问题之一。二人表示，世博会将是一次为期6个月的研讨会，让人探讨如何解决这些问题。

因为除了那些夺人眼球的东西——霓虹闪烁的漂浮的蒲公英（英国馆）和基因突变的紫蚕（日本馆）外，世博会还将展示有助于让城市适宜居住的最新科技。通用展示了轻巧和智能到可以停在高楼清洁间里的汽车。还有思科(Cisco)构想的自动化城市——一旦发生危险品泄漏事故，城市将立即启动应急计划，改变公车路线，关闭学校和工厂，提醒医院专家，并驱散有毒气体。

一些场馆能根据馆内参观者的动作甚至感觉改变形状；还有一些场馆让参观者操纵手提式“造梦机器”，勾画神话般的集体未来。可口可乐(Coca-Cola)馆承诺提供一个“快乐工坊”，面向那些被80万其他人（单日最高接待人数）搞得头晕的参观者。

中国终于承担起环境责任 ，吴志强表示，通过主办世博会，中国终于承担起了其环境责任。瑞士馆的墙以大豆为原料；Hanover House常年保持在25摄氏度，而不采用传统的供暖或空调设备；世博会采用河水冷却，仅允许电动巴士（而非燃油汽车）停靠。此外，尽管根据世博会的规定，几乎所有场馆在展览结束后都必须被拆除，但据主办单位称，它们均能百分之百回收利用。

以往有一些世博会对某座城市或某个国家的历史产生了重大影响：在1939年的纽约世博会上，通用汽车被誉为发明了高速公路系统，该系统在不到20年后改变了美国。无论本届世博会还会冒出什么新鲜事物，基础设施的极大改善都将让上海在未来数十年受益，这些基础设施也许还有助于上海实现到2020年成为全球金融中心的雄心。

有些世博会能在参观者的脑海里留下几十年的回忆，或许上海世博会也将成为其中之一。为了对得起那550亿美元，它最好做得到这一点。