Javier Luis Egaña Executive Secretary of Chile’s Bicentennial Commission 2010
Javier Luis Egaña Secretario Ejecutivo Comisión Bicentenario Chile 2010
On the 18th of September, 2010, Chile will commemorate 200 years as a republic.
This Bicentennial anniversary is an important moment in strengthening the image of our country, developing a sense of our history and imagining our future.
This date constitutes a unique opportunity to develop projects and activities to improve the quality of life for all Chileans. Because the most important aspect of the Bicentennial is the people.
A portfolio of over 200 Bicentennial works taking place throughout Chile will give us green spaces and places for culture and sports. These works will allow us to connect with each other and integrate with the world. They will also make a significant contribution towards us recovering and placing greater value on our identities and regaining our tangible and intangible heritage.
To date, Bicentennial works throughout the length of Chile have created 4 million square meters of public space (equivalent to 22 times the size of the Parque Forestal, Santiago’s urban park). There are plans for over 32 projects designed to recover our heritage and almost 3,500 kilometers of streets, routes, roads and highways have been built. These achievements allow us to have better cities, where Chileans can share and enjoy a better quality of life.
As President Bachelet said, “Behind each of these projects, behind each dream that we turn into reality, there is a profound meaning: finding a meeting point between people. We as Chileans need to get closer to one another, to integrate more and cultivate in ourselves a real sense of fraternity” (Announcement of the Bicentennial works, projects and national programs, La Moneda Palace, June 16th, 2009).
These are the same principles that define the new city that Chile will propose at its Pavilion at Expo Shanghai 2010. Cities that are measured by the quality of human relationships that take place in them, cities that put the collective above the individual, cities which benefit everyone, cities that allow us to meet, get to know and love one another.
This proposal will be presented to millions of people between May and October 2010 in Shanghai, China, the year in which we celebrate a new stage as a country. It is highly significant that for our anniversary marking 200 years of independence, we have the opportunity to bring our vision and our approach to building better cities to the most populous nation in the world.
In order for the diversity that shapes us to create an integrated, tolerant and respectful society, it is essential that we have public spaces that teach us to live together and share, as well as enable us to enjoy this beautiful country that we keep on building, day by day. From September this year, our country will be celebrating with festivities to which everyone is invited; Chileans and foreigners, from near and afar. A celebration whose principal day, the 18th of September, 2010, will be celebrated at Chile’s Pavilion at Expo Shanghai, 12 hours before the festivities get underway in Chile itself. The first ¡Viva Chile! of the 18th of September, 2010 will be heard in Shanghai.
Javier Luis Egaña
Executive Secretary
Bicentennial Commission Chile 2010