scene of the signing ceremony
Freiburg Mayor Dieter Salomon
Zhou Hanmin, seputy director general of the Bureau of Shanghai World Expo Coordination
Germany's Freibury City will present its transformation of a World War II military camp into an ecologically friendly residential complex as an exhibit at the 2010 Shanghai World Expo. The exhibit will be part of the "Urban Best Practice Area" section.
Freiburg Mayer Dieter Salomon said at a signing cenemony yesterday that his city will present the Vauban residential area as a model for sustainable development. The signing ceremony was held at the bureau of Shanghai World Expo Coordination.
The Vauban complex was a former French military camp during WWII. In 1992, the city government of Freiburg bought the 380-square-kilometer camp and rebuilt it as an environmentally friendly residential zone.
The use of private vehicles in Vauban is limited, electric buses are the norm, and bicycle lanes have been carved out in the ciyt's downtown area. The government uses solar energy to generate power, and the water supply system is also "green".
Vauban is now home to 5,000 people and is one of the most attractive and comfortable residential areas of the city.
Zhou presents Shanghai World Expo mascot Haibao to Dieter Salomon
The German organizers will use photographs, videos and a model of Vauban to showcase the township at the Expo, Otto Neideck, Freiburg's deputy mayor, told Shanghai Daily after the signing ceremony.
The city has the world's largest solar energy industry and is one of the warmest and sunniest places in Germany. The 2,200 square kilometer city has a population of 625,000.
Meanwhile, work at the Shanghai Expo site is in full swing, including the construction of five permanent structures - the China Pavilion, Theme Pavilion, Expo Center, Performance Center and Expo Boulevard. Work on 26 temporary pavilions at the Pudong section of the Expo has also started.
