A shared understanding and commitment for a successful Expo

AIPH Site Inspection Committee* travelled to the Expo host city of Yokohama to meet with the Japan Association for the International Horticultural Exhibition 2027. The organising committee for this Expo is a joint effort supported and formed by the national government, the city government of Yokohama, and the Kanagawa prefecture.

AIPH Secretariat Delegation with Mr Toshihide Hirahara, Deputy Mayor, City of Yokohama.

On 11 July 2023, AIPH met with several esteemed individuals, including Mr Satoshi Koitabashi, the Vice Governor of Kanagawa Prefecture, Mr Toshihide Hirahara, the Deputy Mayor of the City of Yokohama, and Mr Masato Komura, the Secretary General of Japan Association for the International Horticultural Exhibition 2027.

AIPH Secretariat Delegation with Mr Satoshi Koitabashi, the Vice Governor of Kanagawa Prefecture.

The following day, AIPH held meetings with other important governmental stakeholders, including the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, and the Japan Landscape Contractors Association, which is an AIPH member supporting Expo Yokohama 2027.

AIPH Secretariat Delegation with Mr Masato Komura, the Secretary General of Japan Association for the International Horticultural Exhibition 2027.

These meetings aimed to discuss the logistics and plans for the upcoming Expo Yokohama 2027. There was a shared understanding and commitment to hosting a successful Expo, and AIPH delegates expressed their readiness to provide all necessary support.

* Mr Bill Hardy, AIPH Vice President and Chair of Green City Committee; Mr Tim Briercliffe, AIPH Secretary General; Mrs Haiyan Kong, AIPH Representative of Region VII; Mr Kevin Chung, AIPH Chair of Exhibitions Committee; Mr Takuhiro Yamada, AIPH Vice Chair of Exhibitions Committee; Mrs Elena Terekhova, AIPH International Relations Manager; Mr Jack Goossens, AIPH Chair of Ornamentals Production Committee.

Expo 2027 Yokohama’s Master Plan looks to the future of achieving a green society

It’s no coincidence that Expo 2027 Yokohama is set three years before the target year of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. The Yokohama Expo organisers state in the Master Plan that they intend to share not only the results of the SDGs actions they have taken and how they are leading them to a conclusion but also their new post-2030 initiatives for achieving a green society—such as those for attaining carbon neutrality in 2050, addressing the climate crisis, and protecting and sustainably utilising biodiversity.

A hint of how the Japanese host city of Yokohama plans to promote this was in its award-winning pavilion at Expo 2022 Floriade, with the theme of satoyama. This word refers to the Japanese concept of the coexistence of nature and people.
The Master Plan identifies how Expo 2027 Yokohama will be a platform to explore how humanity can shift from an industrialised world to an environmentally orientated society – focusing on the nature-based future we desire for 2050.

More about the Master Plan

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“It is evident that Japan and Yokohama City are dedicated to organising a remarkable event in 2027, and with the help of AIPH, they are well on their way towards making it a reality.”

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For now, green infrastructure planning focuses on the final design stages. The organisers align with the AIPH sustainability regulations and conduct environmental impact assessment procedures, including soil analysis and a tree survey before any new planting begins.
After the Expo, most of the site will become a park for the City of Yokohama, and many trees planted will continue to line the landscape for the city’s citizens.