Who owns the land?

Property rights disputes, still simmering between the government and big-name state-owned companies, may create problems in future development projects, Wan said.

Many run-down houses and factories were demolished to clear the way for Expo construction. China State Shipbuilding Corp and the Baosteel Co, both parent companies for the removed factories, maintain their ownership of the land, and the disputes have complicated the redevelopment issue.

"The government may have a difficult time negotiating with the companies, which of course want to pursue maximum interests. It's a zero-sum game between them," Wan said.

The lack of a confirmed official stance so far on the redevelopment issue has given rise to expectations that a few selected pavilions winning the hearts and favor of visitors - the vast majority of whom are Chinese - would be retained to serve as reminders of the mega-event.

Such an expectation is reinforced by the positive feedback from certain pavilions of their willingness to stay. Mara Tena, general commissioner of the Spain Pavilion, told China Daily recently that they "really hope the Spain Pavilion could stay in the Expo Garden as a permanent structure because the pavilion has transmitted a contemporary and modern image of Spain." She added that Spanish officials are trying to discuss future plans with authorities.

Beniamino Quintieri, commissioner general of the Italy Pavilion, also said Italian officials are "exploring plans to bring the Italian way of life captured in this beautiful pavilion to the other parts of China or possibly other parts of the world."

Earlier, officials from the Luxemburg Pavilion were quoted by media as saying that five of the most beautiful pavilions would be kept as permanent structures on the site, although organizers soon refuted the statement.

Lobbying for pavilions

Still, the public passion for a never-ending World Expo has been so strong that interested and earnest Chinese visitors are already trying various means to lobby governments of different levels to stop the indiscriminate removal of all the pavilions.

Earlier media reports said some residents in Shanghai and nearby Nanjing had made repeated phone calls to local government officials, calling for the reservation or relocation of as many pavilions as possible. Their logic is simple: Most Expo guests only visited a limited number of pavilions due to the notoriously long queuing times at most pavilions. Also, the estimated 70 million visitors are still less than 6 percent of the Chinese population. So keeping the main Expo structures would enable more to experience the event even after it finishes, people have argued.

One netizen who identifies himself as "phoenix" from Longyan, Fujian province, said on qq.com that he is willing to sacrifice his own farmland for the relocation of some pavilions to his hometown. This would allow many poor Chinese like him who could not afford a trip to Shanghai during the six-month duration to be able to experience the Expo after it draws the curtain.

Love for the Expo aside, many people also question the rationality of investing tens of billions of yuan in the building of these structures and then spending many more billions to pull them down. The construction of the Saudi Arabia Pavilion, for example, cost a reported 1 billion yuan. Tearing it down would cost 20 percent of its construction price, which is "clearly a waste of money."

Above all, ordinary folks have a genuine wish that the event could, with all its grandeur and glory, leave more tangible legacies to Shanghai and China. It could serve as a permanent landmark and transform itself into a public sphere that could embody the Expo theme of "Better City, Better Life" while promoting sustainable urban development practices.

"If all the structures are to be pulled down and the land sold to developers for commercial purposes, I think we would get nothing from the Expo except high land prices," said Feng, an Expo visitor from Xuzhou, Jiangsu province.

However, Huang from the Bureau of Shanghai World Expo Coordination said most pavilions, constructed to be temporary, are made from materials not meant to last long. So it would be technically difficult to keep and maintain those structures on site, let alone how to make better use of them after the show ends.

Sun Yuanxin also pointed out the conservation of structures designed to last only a few months would entail high maintenance fees in the long run. It also does not make sense to have empty pavilions on exhibition once the Expo finishes.

A more likely solution, he said, is to keep about a dozen or so pavilions under the agreement of the Chinese government and the nation that owns the pavilion, as testament to their friendship. This is a common practice judging from the international experience.

"This is more likely an outcome of diplomatic efforts. For the rest, they have the right to decide whether to be relocated (if there is a sponsor to support it) or simply demolished," Sun said.

Looking for sponsors

As it is, those nations keen to remain in China have been looking for interested sponsors since the beginning of Expo. Many local governments are aware of the potential tourism income that could be generated by the Expo pavilions, and have been actively luring different countries to move their pavilions to their cities. Wuxi in Jiangsu province, for instance, has already reached a deal with the Swedish government for the relocation of its steel and wood structure made up of four cube-like parts arranged to form Sweden's flag when seen from above.

Some academicians point to international practices to serve as a reference for the redevelopment of Expo Shanghai. At the Aichi Expo in Japan five years ago, for example, all the Expo structures were removed and the site was rebuilt into a youth training camp.

In 1988, Brisbane held a successful World Expo '88, following which the government intended to develop the site for commercial interests. However, a public campaign successfully lobbied for the site to be redeveloped as parkland for the enjoyment of people in Brisbane.

For professor Michael Keniger, senior deputy vice-chancellor for the University of Queensland, who is also a member of the board of the South Bank Corporation that is responsible for the development and management of the new South Bank Parklands redeveloped from the site of the Expo '88, public sphere is always an important element.

"Shanghai is one of the world's great cities. Now the city has an opportunity in its very center, by its river, to make a wonderful contribution to the ideas about future cities," he said.

"To do that well, it really has to learn to integrate high-quality public space, which will always be there, and strong urban ideas about planning streets and public transport. The city needs a mixture of public, commercial and government occupation to make it a vital place that people always want to come to."

Clockwise from top: Visitors enjoy a night at the Shanghai Expo. A long queue circles the Sweden Pavilion, which is a common scene at the Expo since its opening in May. The Spain Pavilion attracts visitors with its creative architecture.