Expo 2020 site to finish construction by Oct 2019

The construction of Dubai's Expo 2020 site will be completed by October 2019, a senior official has announced in the latest report on preparations for the prestigious event.

Helal Saeed Almarri, director general of Department of Tourism & Commerce Marketing, CEO of Dubai World Trade Centre and Expo Preparatory Committee member, also said site readiness activity will commence on the Dubai Trade Centre-Jebel Ali site early next year.

Plans to extend the Red Line of Dubai Metro and to launch a zero-emission bus services were also confirmed by officials.

The details were included in a progress update on Dubai Expo 2020, released on Monday.

Almarri said one of the first main deliverables will be the submission of the mandatory Registration Dossier by 2015 to the Bureau of International Expositions (BIE), the governing body of the World Expo, in France.

"In the early part of next year, following finalisation of the detailed master planning, site readiness activity will commence on the Dubai Trade Centre-Jebel Ali site to prepare for full-fledged construction immediately after BIE approval is received," a statement said.

The 438-hectare site that includes a dedicated gated 150-hectare Expo area, and a surrounding residential, hospitality and logistics zone, will play host to the 25 million visitors expected at Dubai Expo 2020, running from October 20 2020 to April 10 2021.

Plans have been drafted with a target date for all major construction activities to be completed on site by October 2019, allowing for a full year of readiness testing across networks, systems and technologies.

Expo Village, a residential community development providing housing facilities for staff from participating countries working on the Expo, will target completion by 2018 following which pavilion construction activities will start.

Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Expo 2020 Preparatory Higher Committee chairman, president of the Department of Civil Aviation and chairman and chief executive of Emirates airline and Group, added: “One of our strongest assets during the bid was a robust and well progressed Master Plan with a clear existing legacy, which Dubai World Trade Centre, as developer of the Expo 2020 site, has continued to evolve and drive forward rigorously to ensure that we are on track to delivering a truly exceptional World Expo in 2020.

“We have made a commitment to the international community to make the 2020 Expo a true World Expo – one that is globally inclusive in reach, stimulating greater collaboration across the world’s public and private sector players to drive advancements and innovative solutions in the fields of mobility, sustainability and economic development, leaving behind a strong transformative social and economic legacy across the region and beyond,” he said.

At the core of the Dubai Expo 2020 Master Plan for the gated expo area, are three distinct zones, each dedicated to one of the sub-themes of mobility, sustainability and opportunity, which will converge at the central Al Wasl Plaza, the figurative and literal heart of Dubai Expo 2020.

The flagship UAE Pavilion will feature prominently in addition to a Welcome Pavilion and an Innovation Pavilion near the North Entrance surrounding the central plaza; and three souks will showcase smaller pavilions surrounded by the larger country pavilions on the outer rings. Each thematic zone will also have one feature Entertainment Venue and a specialised Theme Pavilion.

Almarri said: “The sheer level of detail that has already been developed for the Master Plan means that we are significantly advanced with the requirements for the immediate next stage of delivery and well on-track to ensuring timely and holistic implementation.

"It has undergone substantial review and feasibility, from optimum land usage and sustainability targets to infrastructure planning, transport forecast modelling, and the seamless incorporation of Dubai Smart City’s principles for a completely integrated participant and visitor experience.”

At its peak, the Dubai Expo 2020 exhibition site at Dubai Trade Centre-Jebel Ali is designed to accommodate up to 300,000 visitors, with average week-day attendance expected at 153,000.

A comprehensive visitor management study has been undertaken around the Dubai Expo 2020 hosting, including city wide traffic and movement flow analysis.

An extension to the existing Dubai Metro (Red Line) will be constructed along with a dedicated station on the Expo site to encourage maximum usage of public transport systems.

Additionally, a zero-emission bus service will transport visitors to and from the Expo from pick-up points throughout the UAE.

The master plan also reveals a key ambition of Dubai Expo 2020 to supply at least 50 percent of the Expo Site’s energy needs over its six-month duration with energy from renewable sources. Emphasis will be placed on integrating solar energy technologies into the Expo site.

In the next six years, over 275,000 jobs are estimated to be created across the region to service the Expo. Preliminary estimates indicate that the economic impact generated by the Expo between now and 2021 will be approximately €17.7bn ($24.5bn).