UBPA area in the zone E at the Shanghai Expo
The Ministry of the Environment has been involved in the preparation of EXPO 2010 ever since 2004. Within the context of the program of environmental cooperation between Italy and China we have participated in the preliminary phases of the international consulting for the identification of the themes and organizational aspects of a “sustainable” event.
On the occasion of the State visit of the President of the Council of Ministers Romano Prodi in China (September 2006) the RAS – or Direction for Environmental Research and Development – of the Ministry of the Environment has been entrusted with the launching and realization of a joint program on environmental issues (a round table on the subject of the environment) with the Bureau of the World Expo 2010. After a verification of possible shared initiatives, one has agreed to focus on Urban Best Practices Area (UBPA) .
When the dialogue with the UBPA department commenced, the Ministry was completing the experience of the SIEEB project – Sino-Italian Eco-Efficient Building – at the Tsinghua University of Beijing, one of the first buildings of its kind in China, and had already launched the cooperation project aimed at the construction of the Environmental Conventions Building, the second Chinese-Italian building in Beijing designed according to the best practices of “green” architecture, and built with the latest technologies in the field of materials, energy efficiency and the clean production of energy and water consumption. This is why the Italian Ministry of the Environment has been invited to contribute to the recovery of the architectural heritage represented by the industrial buildings in the Expo area, using ecologically efficient solutions. It has been estimated that the building sector is responsible for more than 30% of the energy consumption in China, and it is therefore an important sector, in which the Italian Ministry has funded projects aimed at the promotion of good practices in ecological architecture and the research and development of energy-efficient technologies in this sector. One such project is the micro-cogeneration system for the heating and cooling of buildings – developed in collaboration with the Tongji University of Shanghai – and, in general, projects aimed at the implementation of CDM – clean development mechanisms – in the building sector.
As compensation for the Ministry’s contribution, the Bureau would have (and has): chosen Italian architects and engineers for the design and supervision of the Pavilions of the UBPA Area referred to as B2 and B3-2; prioritized the supply of innovative Italian technologies; promoted the participation of Italian cities within the context of the international selection managed by the BIE (Bureau International des Expositions). The Ministry’s contribution has made it possible not only to assure the Italian design of two pavilions which have been largely funded by the Bureau, but also to supply, at the expense of the Bureau, “sustainable” Italian technologies for the construction of buildings, energy systems, illumination systems and façades.
From the geographic orientation of the building to the study of lighting systems and the choice of insulation materials and facing methods, these buildings are examples of good practices in the building sector, which is still responsible for an enormous waste of energy, even in many industrialized countries.
In this sense, the cooperation project complies with the requests of the leaders of national and local governments, to make the EXPO a “low-carbon” event, in the hope that the rest of China may follow the example of the organizers of the EXPO and all the cities represented within the context of the UBPA, to build communities that are increasingly sustainable and aware of global impacts.
The Bureau of the Shanghai World Expo Coordination has, in agreement with the Ministry and in cooperation with the BIE, backed the participation of Italian cities. Three of the four candidates have been chosen: Bologna, Milan and Venice. The RAS direction of the Ministry has assisted the three cities both in the phases of the candidature and in the first phases of the organizational mission at UBPA. Bologna and Venice, the cities which will eventually participate with only one exhibition space, within the B3-2 and the B1 Pavilion respectively, are undoubtedly models in Italy and in the world by virtue of their geographic and cultural characteristics and their innovative approach in the fields of town planning and the protection of the territory and the cultural heritage.
However, many other smaller Italian cities, while unable to present themselves in a worldwide showcase as that offered by the Shanghai Expo, deserve recognition as examples of a kind of town planning whose historical roots go back thousands of years, and that is still alive in the urban tissue and is indeed reborn, from century to century, with characters of innovation and adaptation to the globalization and its challenges, always guaranteeing a quality of life which is among the best in the world. The exhibition space in Pavilion B2 reserved for the Ministry of the Environment is dedicated precisely to the presentation of the experiences of sustainability of “minor” Italian cities, chosen through a public procedure. The cities which have presented their candidature are Cosenza, Lucca, Padua, Parma, Pavia, Perugia, Salerno, Siena, Siracusa, Spoleto and Trieste. In these towns a number of innovative solutions guarantee a quality of life that is higher than the European and worldwide average, because they reinvent an old but wise infrastructural tissue, typical of our history and culture, in a modern and sustainable key. This is the first time that a World Exposition dedicates an area to individual cities; this new approach is in line with the theme of the Shanghai exposition, i.e. the motto “Better City, Better Life”.
It is a matter of a significant choice which reflects the global awareness of the importance of the quality of life in urban environments, which are recognized as the nerve centres of civilization and a driving engine of the economy of a country.
The great urban agglomerates of China and the world, considered places where life is good and in any case where its quality is higher to the point that they have always attracted migration from rural areas, naturally attract large investments in technologies, which must however be the subject of attentive strategic planning to assure they are used efficiently for a sustainable development.
Cities are new human ecosystems which make a significant contribution to the emissions which are responsible for climatic changes, and at the same time they are among the most vulnerable victims of their effects. More than 75% of the world’s population live in large urban centres – a century ago the figure was below 10%. It has also been estimated that the industrial and commercial activities in urban areas represent between 50 and 80% of the Gross Domestic Product in many countries of the world. They must be protected and safeguarded, along with the artistic and cultural heritage, for the well-being of the economy of a country and its entire society. If one also considers, for instance, just the effects which the pollution of a city or megalopolis has on the rest of the territory, and often even beyond its borders, it comes as no surprise that the world’s great cities are dedicated to rapidly prevent and mitigate the negative effects of the exaggerated and uncontrolled growth of their road, industrial and commercial infrastructures. To work on sustainable transports, one of the other themes on which the bilateral Cooperation Program for the Environment with China has centred, and which continues to be a priority, is at least as fundamental as the promotion of technologies and solutions aimed at reducing the energy waste associated with the construction sector. The Cooperation Program which is in progress with the Chinese Ministries of the Environment, Science and Technology and other governmental institutions has in recent years promoted some of the most innovative and efficient solutions in the fields of transport and sustainable construction. The experience at the Shanghai Expo and the UBPA Pavilions are concrete demonstrations which we hope will serve as driving force for other similar initiatives, and at the same time bear witness to the Italian creativity, know-how and industry in the building sector.
Corrado Clini is Chief Executive of the Ministry of the Environment and the Protection of the Italian Territory.
