Expo 2023 was a planned specialized exhibition that was scheduled to be held in 2023 in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

, Argentina. The

Bureau International des Expositions The Bureau International des Expositions (BIE; English: International Exhibitions Bureau) is an intergovernmental organization created to supervise international exhibitions (also known as expos, global expos or world expos) falling under the ...

(BIE) awarded Buenos Aires as the host on November 15, 2017. This was to have been the first time that a BIE Expo was held in Argentina, and the first in the country since BIE's creation. In October 2020, Argentina announced that due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

and the ensuing financial crisis, the expo would not be held as planned in 2023. The exhibition was scheduled to take place between 15 January and 15 April 2023. The predicted number of visitors was 9.4 million, with 79% visiting for a day and 4% international visitors. Over 100 countries were expected to participate.

Theme

The exhibition was planned to have a theme of "Science, Innovation, Art and Creativity for Human Development. Creative Industries in Digital Convergence". It was to have three sub themes: "How digital convergence reshapes the creative industries and everyday life", "Socio-economic impacts of the creative industries in digital convergence", and "Cultural impacts of the creative industries in digital convergence".

Preparation

Building works

The exhibition ran a competition for proposals for construction projects, receiving 200 submissions from over 2,000 participants. Six projects were declared the winners.

Recognition

The Recognition Dossier for the Argentine expo was submitted to the BIE on 14 January 2019. On 14 October 2020, the government told the BIE that they were unable to host as planned and would need more time.

Other candidates

There were two other bids to host the specialized exhibition:

Łódź Łódź is a city in central Poland and a former industrial centre. It is the capital of Łódź Voivodeship, and is located south-west of Warsaw. Łódź has a population of 655,279, making it the country's List of cities and towns in Polan ...

submitted a bid with the theme “City Re:Invented” on 15 June 2016;

Minneapolis Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

submitted theirs with a theme titled “Healthy People, Healthy Planet: Wellness and Well Being for All”. The candidature of

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

with the theme “Metropolitan Cities and Sustainability: Cross Border Potentials” did not take part in the election process. A secret ballot took place to select the winner at BIE's 162nd General Assembly on 15 November 2017. The first ballot awarded 46 votes to both Buenos Aires and Łódź, with Minneapolis gathering only 25 (and 1 abstention). Minneapolis was eliminated from the second round, which gave 62 votes to Buenos Aires and 56 to Łódź.

References

{{List of world's fairs in South America World's fairs in Argentina Events in Buenos Aires Events cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic Cancelled events 2023 in Argentina 2020s in Buenos Aires