国内英语新闻:Future cities painted green at Shanghai Expo

In the pavilion's pool, children can play in the water and touch the famous Little Mermaid statue.

"The Demark Pavilion wants to show that the sustainable life can increase the quality of life. If your city is clean enough, you can jump into the sea to swim and ride a bicycle around," he says.

"A future city should be comfortable and enjoyable," says Chen Cun, 56, vice chairman of the Shanghai Writers Association.

"The vital part of city should be people. All the construction should oriented for people, so people enjoy convenience and comfort, and have the chance to develop themselves."

Chen believes a city should meet the material and spiritual needs of its residents. "When a city meets all the needs of a person's development, it is an enjoyable city. It will be the trend of urban development in the future."

The idea is echoed by Arild Blixrud, commissioner general of the Norway Pavilion. "When talking about the future, I think about my grandchildren. I want a good place for them to grow up, to be happy young people and to be able to develop themselves. They should live in harmony."

The Norway Pavilion's slogan is "Norway, Powered by Nature". The pavilion is built around 15 "trees" made from Norwegian wood and decorated with Chinese bamboo.

"We bring a message that Norway is very good country for living because we are very close to nature, we are inspired by nature, we are recreating nature and we are concerned about protecting nature," Blixrud says.

"Future cities will be close to nature, and people will live in harmony."