James Cheng, Canadian architect who distinguished himself in high-rise residential building projects in Vancouver following the city's hosting of the 1986 World Expo, said that Shanghai's hosting of the upcoming World Expo will be a golden opportunity for the Chinese city to increase its livability.

"Vancouver was very fortunate to have Expo'86 where a big junk of land become available for the development. So we could create a model city from scratch," said Cheng who has become well known for creating some of Canada's most prominent, and increasingly tallest, buildings over the past 30 years.

"I think Shanghai is now having the same opportunity with the Expo 2010," Cheng said in an exclusive interview with Xinhua, adding Shanghai will have a big junk of land on the both sides of Huangpu River to create a new form of city.

"I would assure Shanghai would even better than Vancouver, because Shanghai now has another many years to learn or to look at what we've found, and be able to do even better," he said.

Throughout the 1990s Cheng was particularly prominent in his hometown, helping to transform the look of Vancouver's False Creek following the city's hosting of the 1986 World Expo. Today, the former industrial site, just off the downtown core, is a centerpiece of the city, home to thousands living in its glass towers along the water's edge.

Last year saw the opening of the Hong Kong-born architect's Living Shangri-La, a 62-story hotel-apartment tower in downtown Vancouver, the city's tallest building, while in the country's biggest metropolis, work is currently underway on his 65-story Shangri-La Toronto project set to open in 2012.

It is a scenario Cheng would like to see repeated in Shanghai following its hosting of the expo, building communities that are environmentally, socially and economically sustainable, re- establishing the livability of the city, something he feels has been lost in recent years.

The expo site is massive and has been achieved by clearing out old industrial and housing on both sides of the Huangpu River, the main body of water running through Shanghai.

"They have to look at the expo land with that kind of perspective. It's not necessarily to make the most money, not necessarily (to be) the most green, but what's going to happen to the people. How are they going to build communities, how are they going re-establish the neighborhoods?" he asked.

As a frequent traveler to China where he designed Beijing Capital Land's mixed-use Interwest project in Haidian district, he has recently finished a master plan for Haikou where the Hainan capital will create a "new city" as part of the government's plan to further develop the southern island province.

Currently he is working with a Chinese developer to create an entire city block as part of Nanjing's plan to build the world's biggest train station.

Cheng points out the Chinese governments are now starting to realize the value in the old cities, the way people interact and how all the services are related. He said old Shanghai was a prime example of how you could live and work in the same area and avoid traffic jams and commuting.

"China is now very wise. I think the new generation of leaders recognizes the shortfalls of the previous generation. Now they are building subways, trains, they are not relying on airplanes or cars so much. So things are coming and they are beginning to look at the mixed-used mode of development concentrating along transit stations. I think China will be a world-class leader in urban design."

In recent years, Cheng's name has frequently been associated with "Vancouverism," a term referring to high density in the city' s downtown core, yet with amenities, street-life, parks, schools and urbanism all close to where you live and work. While it has also been called the "Asianization" of the city, home to more than 300,000 Chinese, Vancouver is a perennial among the various rankings listing the world's best cities to live.

Essentially Vancouverism preaches mixed-use development, preserving view corridors -- in this case, the ocean and the mountains, and public access to enjoy the waterfront.