Can expo be a model for a sustainable mega-event? A perspective on Expo 2025 Osaka,Kansai,Japan

Abstract

Despite the promotion of mega-events, such as World Expositions, as platforms for sustainability, innovation, and intercultural dialog, the material, environmental, and symbolic impacts of such events remain contested. The paper conceptualizes sustainability as coherence across three dimensions: material and environmental performance, including emissions, contamination risks, biodiversity loss, and material life cycles; governance and accountability, including public data, long-term monitoring, and post-event responsibility; and distributional equity, addressing who bears environmental costs and who captures benefits. This opinion paper examines Expo 2025 Osaka (Expo 2025) through the lenses of engineering, ecology, architecture, finance, and sociocultural analysis. The reclaimed, waste-derived site has been linked to methane emissions, subsidence, and contamination hazards. Notwithstanding the pervasiveness of sustainability narratives, numerous pavilions are designed for brief lifespans and constrained reuse pathways. Nevertheless, initiatives such as the Women’s pavilion have been documented as exemplifying the viability of circular design. The conversion of a coastal wetland has given rise to concerns regarding biodiversity loss and cultural values. More broadly, Expo 2025 is indicative of the financialization of innovation and geopolitical spectacle, a phenomenon that often prioritizes visibility and investment over systemic change. The argument is made that measurable transformation beyond the event horizon requires transparent data regimes, long-term environmental monitoring, and inclusive planning. The absence of these elements could result in the reproduction of extractive paradigms through green narratives.