Introduction
Mega-events are significant international occasions that affect the region where they are hosted. The World Expo in Shanghai, held in 2010, is a great example of this event. It presented an excellent opportunity to showcase the latest architectural, scientific, and artistic achievements, which benefited the hosting country. However, organizing this Expo was also expensive and resource-consuming. As a result, the 2010 Shanghai Expo was both positive and negative for the region’s and country’s political, economic, socio-cultural, and environmental spheres to different extents.
Political Impact
Showcasing the country’s achievements benefited China’s internal and external political power. This strength was illustrated by the futuristic locations built for the occasion, which conveyed the sense of technological advances that the people of China developed in the years preceding the event (Hubbert, 2019; Wang, 2020). Hosting an event of this scale was a great challenge that increased the political leverage of the country in the following years (Chinellato, 2019; Gallo et al., 2020; Gębarowski, 2022; Rawnsley, 2020).
This was illustrated by a rise in Chinese identity acceptance among Hong Kong people (Chu, 2020). The data that supports this includes decreased crime rates and increased support in public surveys and local government popularity polls. Thus, the Expo presented an excellent opportunity to improve China’s relationship with its citizens and other countries.
The event also had some negative political consequences, which resulted from the underuse of buildings designed for the Expo. While they were later rebuilt or restructured for other purposes, this still affected China’s public image among the citizens and other countries (Lin & Xu, 2019). This is illustrated by the current state of these constructions, which were later redesigned or replanned but were previously critiqued by Chinese people and international journalists (Wei et al., 2021). Therefore, there were some cons to the Expo regarding political consequences.
Economic Impact
The economic impact of the Shanghai Expo was mainly to the country’s advantage. It allowed for better collaboration with international brands, increased tourism, and faster development of local businesses (Huang, 2020; Mou et al., 2020; Tran, 2021; Zhao et al., 2022). All these factors were present in economic research evaluating the value of touristic businesses in Shanghai and the advertisement campaigns during and after the Expo. As a result, this data shows an increase in Shanghai’s and China’s economies in connection with the event.
The positive effect was present for a short period and was followed by a recession, which was detrimental to the economy. Several studies conclude that underusing the constructions after the event made them liabilities (Chinellato, 2019; Li, 2019; Li & Xiao, 2022; Makinaci & Berk, 2022). This limited the government’s potential for stimulating development in other spheres. This was concluded by analyzing Expo-adjacent structures’ use and financial stability while preparing for later events. In conclusion, the economic success was temporary and shifted to a crisis that forced the government to address the issues.
Socio-Cultural Impact
The most positive socio-cultural effect of the Shanghai Expo was the mixture of futuristic architecture with ethnic styles. Light and transparent materials that still resembled traditional buildings were a great success as an artistic achievement and morale booster (Hubbert, 2019; Makinaci & Berk, 2022; Randjelovic, 2022). They substantially affected the later direction of Chinese architecture, which is still relevant today. This is supported by the design codes Li and Xiao’s (2022) analysis of designs used to rebuild the Expo structures and later use of the objects as public spaces, which was a beneficial societal factor (Hubbert, 2019). As a result, the Expo’s impact was advantageous and significant for the country.
While the new style was modern and well-received, it became overused and hard to distinguish from similar projects. While ethnic elements were incorporated, the design decisions westernized the buildings and made them more international (Huang, 2020). Overusing the designs in later Expos made Shanghai comparatively less culturally diverse and led to an image of a generic futuristic city (Haneef, Ansari, and Bhavani, 2019). This was gathered from international reactions and advertisement materials during the event. Therefore, the once futuristic and unique city became less recognizable and culturally captivating.
Environmental Impact
The need to prepare for an international event forced the Shanghai government to restructure the waste disposal systems and carbon emission control. This led to a substantial improvement in the environmental situation in the area before and during the Expo (Li & Xu, 2021; Liu et al., 2021; Wei et al., 2021). The analysis of the carbon emissions rate and the scale of waste disposal effectiveness concluded this. Thus, hosting an international event was an excellent opportunity to focus on environmental issues.
While the new ecologically friendly systems showed excellent results, the Expo’s disadvantages also included environmental damage. The increase in tourism activity and productive construction works affected the local biodiversity and created problems despite using green technologies (Li, 2019; Liu et al., 2021; Wei et al., 2021). This is shown by a consequent increase in waste that can be seen in the years after the Expo. Thus, the newly designed systems could not sustain their effects and guarantee sustainability.
Conclusion
The impact of the 2010 Shanghai Expo was heterogeneous. While China gained political power after showing futuristic advancements, later management issues countered this advantage. The economic effects were stimulating but temporary and were followed by a recession. The socio-cultural achievements were later utilized in other projects and lost their novelty effect. The environmental preparation proved insufficient in the long term, decreasing the region’s sustainability. Thus, this case should be analyzed and utilized while organizing mega-events and other international projects.
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