On March 31st, the adventure of Expo 2020 Dubai came to its natural end, and District 2020, the prototype of the city of the future, came to life.
Numbers of Expo 2020 Dubai
The Expo 2020 Dubai faced several challenges as it was the first edition of the World Expo held in the Middle East, and it was postponed due to the Covid pandemic. Despite all of this, the edition had a great result. More than 24 million people from 178 nations crowded the area during the period, with an average of more than 1 million visitors per week in the second half of the exposition. The 18% of visitors were under 18 years old, of which one million were pupils part of the Expo School Programme. More than 30% of the visitors came from abroad. They were mainly from India, Germany, Saudi Arabia, the UK, Russia, France, and the US. Many people flocked on virtual visits too. The final count reached more than 200 million active users.
More than 200 pavilions (representing 192 nations) characterized a total area of 1.080 acres. The awards for the Best Pavilion “Architecture and Landscape” went to Saudi Arabia (Cat. A), the Netherlands (Cat. B), and Singapore (Cat. C). The award for the “Exhibition Design” went to Japan (Cat. A), Peru (Cat. B), and Morocco (Cat. C).
Italian Pavilion
Among the most visited pavilions, the Italian one was one of the leaders in the training sector. The visitors count stopped above 1.6 million at the end of the exhibition, with more than 13 million contacts online and 180 events. The Italian pavilion provided 140 educational days, involving more than 4.000 people from 26 nations.
Now it’s the time of District 2020
What about the future? As we all know, Dubai is a city that wants to design and define the future. District 2020 will evolve from Expo 2020 Dubai as a smart and sustainable city centered on the needs of its urban community. The design of District 2020 strives to support the future of working and living and facilitate connection and collaboration. It will be home to an inclusive and diverse community seeking a more balanced way of life – a place that prioritizes well-being, inspires new ideas, facilitates growth, and enables human potential. To achieve these goals, District 2020 will feature 5G and IoT, LEED-certified buildings, smart mobility, autonomous vehicles, and 11 acres of parks and green spaces.
As mentioned before, this process is already in place. Expo ended on March 31st, District 2020 revolution started on April 1st, and the grand opening is set for October 2022.
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