VANCOUVER, April 26 (Xinhua) -- James Cheng, Canadian architect who distinguished himself in high-rise residential building projects in Vancouver following the city's hosting of the 1986 World Expo, said that Shanghai's hosting of the upcoming World Expo will be a golden opportunity for the Chinese city to increase its livability.
"Vancouver was very fortunate to have Expo'86 where a big junk of land become available for the development. So we could create a model city from scratch," said Cheng who has become well known for creating some of Canada's most prominent, and increasingly tallest, buildings over the past 30 years.
"I think Shanghai is now having the same opportunity with the Expo 2010," Cheng said in an exclusive interview with Xinhua, adding Shanghai will have a big junk of land on the both sides of Huangpu River to create a new form of city.
"I would assure Shanghai would even better than Vancouver, because Shanghai now has another many years to learn or to look at what we've found, and be able to do even better," he said.
Throughout the 1990s Cheng was particularly prominent in his hometown, helping to transform the look of Vancouver's False Creek following the city's hosting of the 1986 World Expo. Today, the former industrial site, just off the downtown core, is a centerpiece of the city, home to thousands living in its glass towers along the water's edge.
