Was very surprised to not see any mention of Expo2020, which has been hailed as a "World's Fair for the 21st Century". UAE and Dubai put tons of resources and capital into it but obviously had to deal with the issue of in person events in 2020. As I understand it has been rescheduled for the end of 2021...
> Today, World's Fairs have been rebranded as "International Expositions" that occur every 5 years, and are a hollow shell of their former glory. They no longer showcase the promise of the future or celebrate achievement. Instead, they serve as national branding exercises, infrastructure development projects masquerading as innovation, architecture competitions, and an opportunity to promote tourism.
I don't know enough about Expo2020 to agree or disagree, but I assumed the author's assessment above was in reference to the series of which the Dubai exhibition is a part.
I really don't think Expo2020 counts. Rooting the future in the UAE seems like a losing battle, and it seems like the amount of entities that would choose not to participate would outweigh those that would.
Switzerland? The Nordic countries? Even the UK hasn't annoyed most countries to the point we wouldn't welcome guests for something like this.
It's basically the equivalent of the Olympics of the business and science world; of you are granted the honour of hosting, you go out of your way to extend an olive branch.
Oh, you have got to be kidding. Quit it with the Nordic worship.
I mean, they're pretty great overall but all the problems you think the USA has, they have in spades. And while they are great they aren't solely because of ideals as much as luck of their conditions forging a good culture and climate for success.
We fundamentally believe in the prosperity of our physical world. The fair itself will be physical, but will have a virtual component so that anyone with a smart phone or, even better, a VR headset, can participate.
Countries are made up of people and companies. There are definitely people and companies that otherwise would attend were it not at a country with massive human rights issues (like, say, making homosexuality illegal).
Expo 2020 is shaping up to be an incredible project, however I'm still expecting it to fall victim to the same challenge that all Fairs since 1970 have had: a lack of a unifying vision. Since every country presents their own narrative, it's hard to guarantee alignment.
I'm heading out there next month and will hopefully find something inspiring to help shape our efforts.
I'm not sure how you could have a unifying vision for something as broad and diverse as "the future," or "the good parts of the future," without projecting it down into a simplistic, synthesized work of very fictional storytelling where all resemblance to reality (and consequently all authority) has been sacrificed in favor of comprehensibility and persuasiveness.
In other words, the clearest route to getting people excited about a World Fair involves sacrificing the reason you'd want people excited about a World Fair.
To clarify. There's no unifying vision because most of the Pavilions are developed by large government committees where everyone wants to show off a little bit of everything. As a result, their Pavilions end up being a watered down version of their vision for the future.
For better or worse, the future itself is to a large extent developed by large government committees - or at least the funding allocation for the cutting-edge research projects that show up at World Fairs are.
https://expo2020dubai.ae/en/