上海世博会能否延续绿色传统?

2010年上海世博会开幕了,全世界的人们雀跃欢腾,特别是中国人。中国将再一次向世界证明――

我能!而另一群人却有自己的想法――随着“低碳”的理念越来越深入民心,这样大费周章地举办一次世界盛会真的值得吗?一次又一次的整修、重建和兴建工程,会前的展馆兴建和会后的拆除――这是否符合低碳环保的做法?这并不是泼冷水,只是作为人类,我们应该为赖以生存的地球多加考虑。希望到最后,笔者与大家的疑虑都只是多此一举。

Hostess: Forty-five billion dollars, that’s how much Shanghai has spent on a 1)facelift ahead of the World Expo this May. It’s an even higher price tag than the seemingly

2)extravagant Beijing Olympics. The makeover includes six new subway lines, a riverside 3)promenade and a coat of paint for just about every neighborhood. More and more people are asking one simple question: is it worth it?

A burst of firecrackers celebrates the opening of the Expo 4)Boulevard. On this site, 192 countries and 50

organizations will take part in Shanghai’s World Expo, building pavilions that will be open for six months, starting in May.

This will be Shanghai’s moment in the sun and many, like Expo construction worker Miao Yonggan, can’t wait.

Miao: (Interpreted) The Shanghai Expo will be even

better than the Olympics. It will win glory for the Chinese people all round the world.

Expo Promotion Video: The theme of World Expo 2010 Shanghai is “Better City, Better Life.” In other words...

5)Sustainability is one of the Expo’s themes. And back in August, the United Nations Environment Program issued a report praising the Expo’s green 6)legacy. But whispers of doubt are beginning to be heard.

Richard Brubaker teaches a course on sustainability at China Europe International Business School. He says the Expo, by its nature, is the very opposite of sustainable development.

Brubaker: You’re building 55…56 pavilions that are the

country pavilions. And at the end of the sixth months, only the four China pavilions will remain. So 52 will be taken off, which would be, to many, a huge anti-sustainability campaign.

Local artists, too, were taking on the Expo in an

exhibition called “Makeover,” which focuses on

Shanghai’s transformation.

I meet Chen Hanfeng standing beside his work, a bubble machine hooked up to an 7)IV tube, 8)belching bubbles into a cage. He’s 9)taken a 10)sly poke at the Expo slogan “Better City, Better Life” by titling his work “Bubble City, Bubble Life.”

Chen: I think the concept of the Expo, it starts from the 11)utopia, you know, utopian-style architecture, futuristic imagination. I think it’s kind of like a bubble.

Lim: And I mean, what you’re saying, you know, bubble pops and nothing is left.

Chen: After Expo is gone, everything is going to be gone, right?

Xu Wei (Expo spokesman): (Interpreted) Objectively speaking, nine out of every ten Shanghainese is extremely concerned with the Expo and really welcomes it. And for any individuals who are opposed to it, well, they’re free to do that.

It’s certainly true that the majority of Shanghainese do welcome the Expo, but Shanghai is determined that nobody will spoil its party.

女主持人:四百五十亿美元,这是上海在今年五月份举办世博会之前用于城市整饰工程的花费。这个费用甚至远远高于看似奢华的北京奥林匹克运动会。这项翻新工程包括六条全新的地铁线、一条滨江大道,还有为附近几乎所有建筑的外墙刷漆。越来越多的人开始问这么一个简单的问题:这值得吗?

震天的爆竹声欢庆着世博轴的开通。在这里,192个国家和50个组织机构将会参加上海世博会,兴建展馆,开始自五月份起共计六个月的展出。

这将是上海的辉煌时刻。许多人,譬如世博展馆建筑工人苗永甘(音译),

迫不及待地等待这一刻的到来。

苗:(翻译)(上海)世博会肯定好啊,比(北京)奥运还要好啊。它会为全世界的

中国人赢得荣誉。

世博会宣传片:2010年上海世博会的主题是“城市,让生活更美好”。换句话说……

可持续发展是世博会的主题之一。回溯2009年8月,联合国环境规划署提交了一份报告,赞扬世博会的绿色传统。但人们渐渐听到一些疑虑之声。

理查德・布鲁贝克在中欧国际工商学院教授可持续发展的课程。他说,从本质上说,世博会恰恰是可持续发展的对立面。

布鲁贝克:你们要建造55……56座展馆,都是各国的国家馆。而六个月之后,只有四座中国展馆会被保留下来。那么就有52座将被拆除。对于很多人来说,这会是一种严重的非可持续性行动。

当地的艺术家们还以世博会为题材举行了一场名为“焕然一新”的展览,展览的焦点就是上海的变化。

我遇到了陈汉峰(音译),他正站在自己的作品旁边。那是一个连着静脉注射管的吹泡机,将泡泡喷进一个笼子里。他对世博会口号“城市,让生活更美好”进行了巧妙的改动,变成了自己作品的标题:“泡泡城市,泡泡生活。”

陈:我认为世博会的概念源于乌托邦,你知道,乌托邦式的建筑,未来派的幻想。我认为它就像是一个泡泡。

利姆:我的意思是,像你刚才所说,你知道,泡泡一旦破裂,便一无所有。

陈:世博会结束以后,一切都会结束,对吧?

徐威(世博会发言人):(翻译)客观说来,每十个上海人当中就有九个极其关心世博会,也确实非常欢迎它的到来。而对于任何持反对意见的人,他们有反对的自由。

大多数上海人确实欢迎世博会的到来,这是千真万确的,而上海市也决不会让任何人破坏这次盛会。