The city of Houston, that’s who.
Congress is moving to free up funding for the U.S. to post a pavilion at the 2020 World’s Expo in Dubai — a move lawmakers say will put Houston “in play” to host the first World’s Expo in America since 1984.
The House of Representatives [last] week passed a bill that would allow the State Department to spend about $60 million to build a pavilion at the expo, also known as the World’s Fair, in Dubai next year.
It’s a move meant to demonstrate how serious America is about once again hosting the World’s Fair, an event that has left lasting marks on American cities, including Chicago and Seattle — but one that hasn’t been hosted on U.S. soil since a disappointing showing in New Orleans in 1984.
The pavilions are essentially a requirement for nations to host the expo, but the State Department is currently prohibited from spending money to build one, meaning the U.S. is the only country in the world that relies entirely on private donations to guarantee its presence at world expos. Funding has fallen short for seven of the last 10 proposed American pavilions.
Local leaders are vying for Houston to host the World’s Expo in 2030 as a show of the city’s international bona fides.
See here for more. I’ll be honest, I didn’t know this was still a thing. It’s cool, and now that I do know I’m rooting for Houston to win it for 2030. But seriously, who knew this was still a thing?
There exists a subset of us who are old enough to remember both the Knoxville World’s Fair *and* the immortalization of same thanks to The Simpsons. #NeverForget
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RI3OiYarJ98
The last one was in Milan in 2015. I wonder if it’s not a little late to be considering building a pavilion at an event that’s less than a year from opening. So does this mean that flooding will not be a thing in Houston in 2030, and our world-class BRT will be whisking visitors around the city? https://www.expo2020dubai.com/