The Urban Best Practices Area (in English: Urban Best Practices Areas, UBPA) was an innovative concept of Expo 2010 that was held in Shanghai between May 1 and October 31, 2010. It is a 15 ha area within the Expo site dedicated especially for exemplary cities from around the world to showcase their representative urban projects. These projects are included in one of the following four aspects:
• - Livable cities.
• - Sustainable urbanization.
• - Protection and use of historical heritage.
• - Technological innovation.
Location
The UBPA was located in zone E of the Expo, north of the Huangpu River, and consisted of two parts (one to the north and the other to the south) joined by a pedestrian bridge. The northern zone was in turn divided into two different sections: the pavilions of the cities that built a special construction, which is a representative copy of the original project, and the UBPA-1 and UBPA-2 enclosures, which housed the pavilions of other cities; The southern area housed the UBPA-3 and UBPA-4 campuses, with the rest of the projects.
Cities and projects
43 cities from 20 countries around the world participated; 13 cities had their own pavilion, the other 31 had a stand within the four venues mentioned above. The following table describes the chosen cities that participated in the UBPA exhibition and the cases or projects they presented.
Spanish cases
Spain was represented by three cities: Barcelona and Madrid with two projects each and Bilbao with a single project. Two other cities: Zaragoza (with the “Ecociudad Valdespartera” project) and Santiago de Compostela (“A historic city as a model for the future”) were also chosen, but due to internal problems they were not able to present their case at the Expo.
• - Barcelona - presented two projects successfully carried out in the city of Barcelona in recent decades: the rehabilitation of the Ciutat Vella "District of Ciutat Vella (Barcelona)"), the historic center of Barcelona, which has provided this part of the city with new public spaces, neighborhood facilities, new homes, comprehensive or partial rehabilitation of buildings, its promotion as a commercial center and of recreational, cultural and tourist interest, and the promotion of economic and commercial activity. The second project is known as "Poblenou - Distrito 22@ Barcelona", focused on the regeneration of an old industrial area in the Pueblo Nuevo neighborhood "Pueblo Nuevo (Barcelona)"). The initiative reflects the transformation of industrial areas in an area called District 22@, where important companies and firms that develop technological innovation, knowledge and creativity meet, in line with a modern residential system compatible with the new productive activity.
Cultural innovation districts
Introduction
The Urban Best Practices Area (in English: Urban Best Practices Areas, UBPA) was an innovative concept of Expo 2010 that was held in Shanghai between May 1 and October 31, 2010. It is a 15 ha area within the Expo site dedicated especially for exemplary cities from around the world to showcase their representative urban projects. These projects are included in one of the following four aspects:
• - Livable cities.
• - Sustainable urbanization.
• - Protection and use of historical heritage.
• - Technological innovation.
Location
The UBPA was located in zone E of the Expo, north of the Huangpu River, and consisted of two parts (one to the north and the other to the south) joined by a pedestrian bridge. The northern zone was in turn divided into two different sections: the pavilions of the cities that built a special construction, which is a representative copy of the original project, and the UBPA-1 and UBPA-2 enclosures, which housed the pavilions of other cities; The southern area housed the UBPA-3 and UBPA-4 campuses, with the rest of the projects.
Cities and projects
43 cities from 20 countries around the world participated; 13 cities had their own pavilion, the other 31 had a stand within the four venues mentioned above. The following table describes the chosen cities that participated in the UBPA exhibition and the cases or projects they presented.
Spanish cases
Spain was represented by three cities: Barcelona and Madrid with two projects each and Bilbao with a single project. Two other cities: Zaragoza (with the “Ecociudad Valdespartera” project) and Santiago de Compostela (“A historic city as a model for the future”) were also chosen, but due to internal problems they were not able to present their case at the Expo.
• - Bilbao – the project, with the name “Guggenheim++” in honor of the renowned museum, presented the formidable urban transformation of the Biscayan capital due to the museum: from being a gray industrial city to becoming an attractive city full of new urban projects: the Euskalduna Palace, the Loiu airport, the Zubizuri bridge, the Isozaki towers, the new Athletic field "San Mamés Stadium (2013)"), among those already carried out, and the island of Zorrozaurre.
• - Madrid - had a relevant presence in the UBPA sector with its own 2,500m² pavilion. The pavilion consisted of two different constructions: the Casa de Bambú building and an advertising column known as “Air Tree.” The building is a replica of the Casa de Bambú, an innovative social housing building built in 2007 in the Madrid neighborhood of Carabanchel. It is a rectangular body covered by a bamboo skin that contains 88 homes, the work of the architecture studio Foreign Office Architects (FOA). The Air Tree is a replica of the pavilions or bioclimatic trees located on the ecological boulevard of Vallecas designed by Belinda Tato's studio, Ecosistema Urbano). Shanghai.
• - Expo Axis.
• - China Pavilion "China Pavilion (Shanghai)").
• - Theme Pavilion "Theme Pavilion (Shanghai)").
• - Expo Center.
• - Expo Cultural Center.
• - Official Expo website (in English).
• - Barcelona - presented two projects successfully carried out in the city of Barcelona in recent decades: the rehabilitation of the Ciutat Vella "District of Ciutat Vella (Barcelona)"), the historic center of Barcelona, which has provided this part of the city with new public spaces, neighborhood facilities, new homes, comprehensive or partial rehabilitation of buildings, its promotion as a commercial center and of recreational, cultural and tourist interest, and the promotion of economic and commercial activity. The second project is known as "Poblenou - Distrito 22@ Barcelona", focused on the regeneration of an old industrial area in the Pueblo Nuevo neighborhood "Pueblo Nuevo (Barcelona)"). The initiative reflects the transformation of industrial areas in an area called District 22@, where important companies and firms that develop technological innovation, knowledge and creativity meet, in line with a modern residential system compatible with the new productive activity.
• - Bilbao – the project, with the name “Guggenheim++” in honor of the renowned museum, presented the formidable urban transformation of the Biscayan capital due to the museum: from being a gray industrial city to becoming an attractive city full of new urban projects: the Euskalduna Palace, the Loiu airport, the Zubizuri bridge, the Isozaki towers, the new Athletic field "San Mamés Stadium (2013)"), among those already carried out, and the island of Zorrozaurre.
• - Madrid - had a relevant presence in the UBPA sector with its own 2,500m² pavilion. The pavilion consisted of two different constructions: the Casa de Bambú building and an advertising column known as “Air Tree.” The building is a replica of the Casa de Bambú, an innovative social housing building built in 2007 in the Madrid neighborhood of Carabanchel. It is a rectangular body covered by a bamboo skin that contains 88 homes, the work of the architecture studio Foreign Office Architects (FOA). The Air Tree is a replica of the pavilions or bioclimatic trees located on the ecological boulevard of Vallecas designed by Belinda Tato's studio, Ecosistema Urbano). Shanghai.