A lasting legacy: Expo 2020 Dubai lives on as a clean, green, conscientious city of the future

A lasting legacy: Expo 2020 Dubai lives on as a clean, green, conscientious city of the future

By Sholto Douglas-Home, Chief Sales and Marcomms Officer, Expo City Dubai

Expo 2020 Dubai, which welcomed more than 24 million visitors in six months during a global pandemic, was an unprecedented triumph, one that provided a significant soft power boost to the reputation of Dubai and enhanced the position of the UAE on the international stage.

I recently had the opportunity to speak at the City Nation Place Global Conference in London and share strategic place brand insights of how this extraordinary World Expo was continuing to impact the mission, identity and future of its host city.

Because while cities such as Paris, Los Angeles and London have spent centuries building their brand values and inimitable identities, the World Expo was the first real opportunity for Dubai to take both its brand and its vision to the world.

By demonstrating the UAE’s ability to safely and successfully host a mega-event – against a disruptive and hugely challenging back-drop of COVID-19 – Expo 2020 Dubai acted as a catalyst to attract other major, global events to the region, while simultaneously launching an ambitious urban development plan.

The legacy of Expo 2020 Dubai has been at the heart of the planning since the UAE bid to host the World Expo in 2013, and since doors closed at the end of March 2022, we have been relentlessly working on transforming the site into Expo City Dubai.

Launching and building a brand identity for an entirely new city is a challenge that does not come along very often. Brands come and go, but cities house, shape, educate, inspire, intrigue and protect us over lifetimes. More than just a brand, Expo City Dubai is a place where a bold vision has become a reality, culminating in a space that fires the imagination while retaining the magic, energy and excitement of Expo 2020 Dubai.

Indeed, Expo City Dubai has its foundations in Expo 2020. It retains 80 per cent of Expo 2020’s infrastructure and builds on its best practices in sustainable design and architecture to offer a genuine and inventive blueprint for tomorrow’s smart cities.

Futuristic in its inception, Expo City Dubai seeks to exemplify the solution-creating capabilities of a human-centric, smart, sustainability-driven city that is informed by science, inspired by art and motivated by compassion.?

By putting sustainability at the heart of its existence and operations, the city is ‘walking the talk’. Its green credentials were recognised when Expo City Dubai was chosen to host COP28 – The Emirates Climate Conference with the UN’s Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), taking place in November 2023. With a sharp focus on accountability for everyone, these conferences facilitate meaningful commitments to help ensure a sustainable future for present and future generations – and COP 28 means we will not only be welcoming the world back to the Expo site, but once again, we will be showcased on the international stage as an innovation hub that highlights and drives action on transformative climate solutions.

Tackling climate change remains at the top of the global agenda, and, as both a city and an educational hub, we are actively engaged in this conversation. We have already unveiled a diverse and engaging calendar of sustainability-themed events in the run-up to COP28, including thought-provoking youth discussions, performances, exhibitions and more.

And we are looking forward to inviting visitors of all ages and backgrounds to come together to support global climate change mitigation in an unrivalled, impactful ‘Green Zone’ public area during COP28.

We might be in our infancy as a city, but Expo 2020’s success helped us establish a global reputation. Thanks to Expo 2020, Expo City Dubai has solid roots and a clear purpose, with compassion, collaboration and conscience as its defining DNA.?We will continue to be big, bold and brave in everything we do to put this new, iconic UAE destination on the map.