Development of Shanghai in 20th century didn’t proceed sustainably. An impressive pace of urbanization and industrialization, the disastrous state of the urban environment. Shanghai in 21st century has become a model of “green” urban planning, delivering more and more pure environment, sustainable “green” and “blue” infrastructure, large-scale reservoirs of open spaces, reclaimed waterfronts, modern public spaces and parks, implementing the latest trends in landscape architecture and serving eco-system functions.

The significance of American expos in the history of world’s fairs, as well as in the history of planning, urban design, architecture and landscape architecture is extraordinary. In the article, which constitutes the first part of a report on the carrying out of the research project entitled “Urban and architectural heritage, as well as the impact of American world expos on city planning and development”, a retrospective outlook on American world expos has been presented on the examples of New York and Chicago, with a particular focus on their long-term heritage, which affects the development of their host cities.

Cities seeking their individual development path use various development models. Urban development management through large urban projects is an expression of departure from the so-called global change regulated urbanism to urbanism through projects. This approach is also used by the city of Lodz, recovering, e.g. through large revitalization projects, its industrial heritage, but processed and adapted to the needs of current residents. The Horticultural EXPO 2024 exhibition (so-called Green EXPO) planned in Lodz belongs to the highest world-class exhibitions, i.e. class A1. The topics of this type of exhibition focus on various aspects related to, among others with greenery in cities, ecology, agriculture and gardening. It is another development opportunity for Lodz in accordance with a relatively new and innovative model – urban agriculture – in urban planning. The article presents the historical context of the organization of the exhibition, the results of research on the needs and expectations of the inhabitants of Lodz related to the planned exhibition, including the spatial aspect, the importance of the exhibition for the needs of shaping a healthy living environment.

The significance of American expos in the history of world’s fairs, as well as in the history of planning, urban design, architecture and landscape architecture, is extraordinary. In the article, which constitutes a supplement to the first part of a report on the carrying out of the research project entitled “Urban and architectural heritage, as well as the impact of American world expos on city planning and development”, a retrospective outlook on American fairs has been presented on the examples of Philadelphia, Buffalo, Saint Louis and Cleveland, with a particular focus on traces of expos left in the cityscape and their long-term heritage, which affects the development of host-cities.

The article presents a reflection on the loss of historical and cultural heritage caused by the pursuit of energy efficiency reduction of buildings. The paper will present the post-war construction development in the Ostrava region, especially the completion of the railway network with the implementation of new railway stations. It is these stations, whose architecture refers to the success of the Czechoslovak Expo 58 pavilion in Brussels, that have faced increased interest in the last few years from conservators seeking to preserve these cultural assets for future generations. The author illustrates this with the example of the inappropriate reconstruction of the railway station in Havířov. The scientific method used is mainly the communication of the author’s own activist experience in saving the railway station from demolition and his own observations during the recent reconstruction of this object. The response to the activities of the Důl architektury association was very topical at the time and led to the production of a documentary by Czech Television titled Requiem for the Station (Hollander, 2015) from the series My Private War.