Dietmar Schmitz, Commissioner General of the German Pavilion, attends a press conference briefing on Germany’s participation in the Shanghai Expo 2010, in Beijing, March 23, 2010. ©Wang Guanqun
By Wang Guanqun
BEIJING, March 23 — The German Pavilion in the forthcoming 2010 World Expo Shanghai will present solutions devised by German industries and institutions to today’s most pressing urban problems, said Dietmar Schmitz, Commissioner General of the German Pavilion, in a news conference on Tuesday.
The German Pavilion, which will run from May 1 to the end of October 2010, is presenting itself as “balancity”, a city in balance, which is their explanation for the Expo Shanghai theme “Better City, Better Life”, Schmitz told reporters.
Speaking of the solutions to the urban problems, Schmitz gave an example of a flexible car-sharing model being practiced with success in Ulm, Germany.
“Car-sharing helps to protect the environment, it helps to use less energy, and it is more comfortable for people who live in the city to travel by car even if they don’t have a car by their own. It is a modern philosophy,” Schmitz said in an interview with Xinhuanet.
“We will also show a special system on how to lead the traffic,” said Schmitz, “by using this system, there will not be so many queues standing for the lights, and the traffic can move more fluently.”
Schmitz said earlier in a speech that urban planning resolutions also included “Hamburg’s ‘Umbau Ost’ urban redevelopment scheme along with its ‘HafenCity’ harbor conversion, and an innovative water purification system for Berlin’s Spree River.”
Talking about the solution to the reutilization of the pavilion itself, the commissioner said, “I have to admire the Shanghai Expo organizer, because they thought what should be done when Expo is over.”
“The Shanghai organizer asked all the international participants to rebuild their pavilions after the Expo… and make a green park in the area,” said Schmitz, “this is a very good idea to change the industrial site it was before into a park with a real after-use.”
According to Schmitz, the German Pavilion in Shanghai Expo is the biggest one Germany has ever had at an Expo. Some 8 to 9 million visitors are expected to visit the pavilion during the 184-day Expo.
On Xinhua Web site: http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2010-03/23/content_13231763.htm