Dubai's 2020 vision of 25 million expo visitors

City wants to bring in 25 million people during a six-month world's fair.

DUBAI // The city hopes to attract 25 million visitors to Jebel Ali, if it succeeds in its bid to host World Expo 2020.

The details of the masterplan were announced in Paris before the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE), the organisation that oversees World Expos.

Dubai is competing against Sao Paulo in Brazil; Ekaterinburg, Russia; Ayutthaya, Thailand; and Izmir, Turkey to host the event - a six-month world fair held every five years.

If it wins, Dubai plans to hold the expo at a proposed 438-hectare site near Al Maktoum International Airport, called Dubai Trade Centre Jebel Ali, according to a summary posted online by the BIE.

The team also proposed a new high-speed train to connect the location to Dubai International Airport - and an extension of the existing Dubai Metro to the site.

The proposed theme of the event is "Connecting Minds, Creating the Future".

The design of the site is inspired by traditional souqs and includes a central plaza and walkways shaded by a structure covered in a photovoltaic fabric. The plan is to capture solar energy for up to half of the power needed, said the statement. The committee wants the site to become a permanent attraction after event.

The winning city will be selected late next year.

The last World Expo was held in Shanghai, China, in 2010 and attracted more than 70 million people. The next expo will be in Milan in 2015.