Which World Expo first paid attention to environmental issues?

The theme of Expo Spokane 1974 in the United States is "pollution-free progress". This is an unprecedented World Expo with the theme of "pollution-free progress". Since then, the Expo, which shows the achievements of human modernization, has turned to environmental issues. Government officials and enterprises in Spokane finally began to pay attention to the problem of river pollution, and began to make renovation plans.

Duration:1May 4th, 974 to165438+1October 3rd Theme: Countries/regions involved in environmental protection: 10.

Location: Spokane, USA Investment cost: US$ 78.4 million.

1969, Spokane, located in the east of Washington, USA, plans to hold a large-scale event in 1973 to celebrate the 0/00th anniversary of the founding of Spokane. To this end, the local government invited experts to evaluate the feasibility of the celebration plan. In combination with the strong local will to harness the Spokane River, the consultation report suggests that the centennial celebration should be postponed to 1974, and the world Expo with the theme of environment should be held. BIE approved 1974 Spokane Environmental Expo as a professional Expo.

Spokane, USA, Expo site 1974.

Kim Cole, director of the Spokane World Expo, suggested that some radical measures must be taken. If we can start to change the decline of the central business district, especially around the Spokane River in the city center, people can have a good start. Director Kevin Tusig of Spokane, USA, believes that it is a groundbreaking and unique idea to put forward the theme of the World Expo at the beginning of the preparations for the World Expo in the early 1970s.

Few people support the proposal of hosting the World Expo. However, Kim Cole has participated in the organization of the 1962 Seattle World Expo and knows the difficulty of this work. In one year, he gave 52 speeches about rebuilding Spokane, and the audience grew from a few at the beginning to hundreds later. However, in Spokane at that time, most people simply didn't understand what "environmental protection" was. Many people even accuse the purpose of hosting the World Expo is just to "update a city".

Professor William yangsi, Department of History, East Washington University, said that some people said that Spokane was too small to host the World Expo, and that these people were simply crazy. 1974, two years after the first global conference on human environment, US President Nixon officially opened the Spokane World Expo. Spokane became the smallest venue in the history of the World Expo. The 1 1 countries and regions participating in China International Import Expo(CIIE) explained the theme of "pollution-free progress" from their own perspectives. Running water, forest, waste electrical appliances, etc. It's the first time that they have become the exhibits of the World Expo, and the most important exhibit in the Expo Park is the waterfall in Spokane, splashing water and spraying snow, which impressed tourists from afar. The World Expo was even designated by the United Nations as the venue for the first "World Environment Day" event.

theme

Expo 1974 held in Spokane, USA, is the first Expo with the theme of environment in history, and it is also the first Expo held after the United States formally joined BIE. As a small and medium-sized city in the United States, Spokane, the host city, experienced the urban greening crisis in the 1950s and 1960s with the whole United States, and faced with the huge population explosion, congested traffic conditions and polluted air quality, it began to plan and hold such an international grand event with environmental issues as its theme in the 1970s.

Mobius, a famous German mathematician and astronomer, was chosen as the official symbol of the World Expo that year because of its far-reaching significance. The logo is made up of three colors: blue, green and white, which circulate with each other, meaning that life is continuous and endless ... The three colors vividly represent their respective themes-white symbolizes clean and dust-free air, blue symbolizes bright and pure ocean, and green represents vibrant earth and lush nature. Jumping colors and bright themes bear the theme advocated by the World Expo-pollution-free progress.

This World Expo not only brought back a clean moat-Spokane River to the city, but also brought a brand-new concept of environmental protection to the whole world: a healthy environment and pollution-free living space need human beings to maintain and, more importantly, to actively create. This is the real progress of human civilization.

meaning

By the opening of the World Expo, all these pollutions had been controlled. Therefore, the Expo Park has rivers and beautiful waterfalls, as well as night lights, many music performances, entertainment, symphonies and operas.

William yangsi, a professor of history at East Washington University, said that people standing by the river are laughing and talking, which is also an important part of the Expo landscape. Tourists often ask: You Americans are really smart. How did you get this river through the Expo site? In fact, this river has been here from the beginning, and it is undoubtedly an important exhibit of the World Expo.

Today, Spokane is no longer an industrial city, but its main business is tourism and service industry. This successful transformation certainly benefited from the 1974 World Expo. It is estimated that the World Expo attracted at least $654.38 billion+$500 million for urban construction. The Expo not only brought a clean river to Spokane, but also left a new riverside park, a new opera house and a conference center. After the unorganized and unplanned railway was demolished, the bell tower of the station was preserved and has now become a landmark building in Spokane.

Jack O 'Brien, a former member of the Spokane City Council in the United States, believes that the World Expo has completely changed Spokane and made it a very, very excellent city in terms of environment.

Mary Verner, the mayor of Spokane, USA, said that for decades, people naturally asked for resources from nature, and the result was to pay the price in terms of money and environment. But for the future of the city, our only hope is to naturally return to the original appearance.

Expo Spokane 1974 is the first Expo in history with the theme of environmental issues clearly, which has opened a new page in the history of the Expo. Although different countries and regions have different understandings of environmental protection, everyone understands that human beings are the biggest threat to the environment, and only pollution-free progress can create a brand-new world. Some people commented on this World Expo: If some World Expos showed people telephones and some elevators, then the Spokane World Expo showed the "shortcomings" of human beings. Spokane has become a new starting point, a starting point to reflect on the road of human development.