Drone video: Expo 2020 Dubai takes shape

Work is progressing on the Expo 2020 Dubai site, with less than two years to go until the event begins.

Spread across 4.38 sqkm, the expo site in Dubai South will feature three thematic pavilions – Opportunity, Mobility and Sustainability.

Read: Video: Expo 2020 Dubai reveals design for final pavilion to be made with rope and stone

They are the sub-themes of the expo, which is themed ‘Connecting Minds, Creating the Future’.

Organisers of Expo 2020 have released drone footage showing construction on the site, which is located adjacent to Al Maktoum International Airport in Dubai South.

The expo – the first to take place in the MEASA (Middle East, Africa and South Asia) region – will run for six months from October 20, 2020 until April 10, 2021 with representation expected from 180 countries.

Many countries have already revealed the design of their pavilions at the Expo, including Oman, UK, Germany and France.

Also read: Oman reveals design of Dubai Expo 2020 pavilion

“Major construction is on course to be completed by October 2019, leaving plenty of time for testing and preparation ahead of the grand opening,” senior vice president of real estate and delivery, Ahmed Al Khatib, told Gulf Business earlier this year.

“The majority of Expo 2020-built construction contracts have already been awarded. Precast production and installation activities are now taking place, and façade, MEP and public realm works are also underway.”

Read more: Dubai Expo 2020: Two year countdown begins

Last last month, Expo 2020 also awarded a Dhs311m ($84.6m) contract to Arabtec Construction for the construction of the public realm in concourses and arrivals plazas.

The project comprises the construction of 268,000 square metres of concourses including public entrance plazas, landscaping, lighting water features, irrigation, landscape structures and furniture.

Construction is scheduled to begin this month and is slated for completion in the last quarter of 2019.

Read more: Dubai’s Arabtec unit wins Dhs610m worth of contracts from Expo 2020, Damac

Expo 2020, which aims to have 30,000 volunteers, will have more than 200 participants, including nations, multilateral organisations, businesses and educational institutions.

During the event, there will be more than 45 volunteering roles, from welcoming guests and guiding them around the Expo districts to managing events, with more than 16 million volunteering hours across 173 days.

More than 25 million visits are expected at the event, with 70 per cent of all visitors anticipated to come from outside the UAE – the largest proportion of international visitors in Expo history.

Also read: Video: Dubai marks two-year countdown to Expo 2020