Osman Almaziad: When the World Becomes "One Island"—Saudi Arabia's Future Vision Transmitted from Yumeshima

2025/05/20

Just as the concept of a "Global Village" was once proposed, the dramatic development of information and communications has significantly shortened the distance between parts of the world. Today, that image of a "village" has evolved further, and as cultures and values intersect in complex ways, the entire world is taking on a structure like a single "island." A microcosm of this can be found at Yumeshima, the venue for the Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai, which has just opened on April 13, 2025. Here, nations gather with their cultures, technologies, and future visions, creating a grand "intersection of knowledge and creativity."

This exhibition provides a rare opportunity to learn about the world experientially. By touching the full picture of culture through the five senses—something that cannot be fully captured by the fragmented information clipped by news reports and social media—visitors are encouraged to rethink the nature of modern "knowledge."

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Pavilion is characterized by a composition that spatially links tradition and transformation, the present and the future. Visitors moving through an interior space resembling an alleyway inspired by traditional urban architecture gain a pseudo-experience of traveling through the country while encountering multi-layered themes related to culture, environment, and urban policy. The production, which integrates architecture, sound, light, and fragrance, demonstrates how culture can be communicated through the senses.

The exhibits include classical dance, music, film, and fashion, as well as future city concepts represented by "THE LINE" and "OXAGON," and urban greening initiatives seen in "Green Riyadh." These are not merely cultural introductions; they can also be read as responses to social issues such as urban planning, environmental policy, and the redesign of living structures.

Behind this pavilion lies a state-led innovation strategy. The idea of "New Combination" advocated by economist Joseph Schumpeter—the creation of new value through the reconfiguration of existing institutions, technologies, and needs—can be found at the root of the reforms in Saudi Arabia.

Efforts such as the digitalization of administration, the reorganization of urban infrastructure, and the construction of a national data strategy are not limited to mere technological implementation; they also have the aspect of redesigning publicness and social inclusion. For example, "Absher," an e-government platform operated by the Ministry of Interior, is a system that allows for the completion of passport and driver's license renewals, visa applications, and more online, and it is changing the very way citizens participate in administration.

These institutional reforms can be seen as attempts to present a model for building relationships between the government and citizens while increasing the convenience of citizen services. In other words, innovation is not simply "new technology," but also a process of reorganizing the very foundations of society through the reconfiguration of institutions, culture, and life.

What the Saudi Arabia Pavilion presents is a kind of "social strategy as an exhibit" that culturally and visually interprets such national innovation. An exhibit only gains meaning when it serves as a starting point for comparison and dialogue with others, rather than just being an outward-facing explanation.

Such concepts lead toward the Riyadh Expo scheduled for 2030. At this international exhibition, which was officially decided in 2023, 246 countries and international organizations are expected to participate under the theme "The Era of Change: Together for a Foresighted Tomorrow," with over 40 million visitors and an additional 1 billion participants expected via metaverse spaces.

Through this Expo, Saudi Arabia intends to pose questions to the international community about how institutions and society, environment and cities, and technology and culture can be fused. However, this is not to position itself as superior, but strictly in the context of creating a "place to think together."

An Expo is not a place to compete for national superiority, but a place to juxtapose concepts and relativize each other's visions of the future. Saudi Arabia's exhibit at Yumeshima also becomes an opportunity for countries around the world to rethink their institutions and cultures by intersecting with the visions of other nations. For visitors, it may be an opportunity not only to "know other countries" but also to "rethink their own country."

In that sense, the future vision transmitted from Yumeshima is not a closed national image, but takes the form of an open question. Innovation is not just the introduction of new technology, but includes the "power of the question" regarding how society can be reorganized. How to receive that question is left to the visitors themselves.