Proposal
The original "Expo 17" proposal attempted to analyze and address flagging interest and attendance experienced by the most recent world's fairs. Citing an expo's theme--or purpose--and its ability to portray, as well as resolve, modern humanity's most pressing concerns as paramount to success, the proposal recommended sweeping social and environmental initiatives. It also suggested the implementation of city- and province-wide energy efficiency programs to reduce the unusually high consumption of electricity in Quebec, thereafter selling the resulting surplus to help finance the exposition. Other financing suggestions included overhauling Montreal's taxation system to allow for the creation of positive financial incentives for citizens who strive to save energy, and increased costs for those who do not.
Perhaps most novel was the suggestion of a "hybrid" world's fair composed of a BIE-sanctioned "recognized" exposition, a horticultural exposition, and a housing ("Habitat 2017") exposition. This was apparently due to the fact that in 2017, only a very small "recognized" expo is permitted by the BIE--the Paris based body which governs world's fairs. By holding three smaller expos simultaneously, a city could ostensibly stage a relatively sizeable exposition with a greater degree of flexibility, yet less cost (apparently), than a single larger ("universal") expo such as Expo 67. The proposal also states that the housing and horticultural aspects would be jointly financed through public-private partnerships. Lastly, the proposed housing expo, "Habitat 2017", in order to address the disappearance of young families from increasingly unaffordable urban centres (the "demographic time bomb"), borrows heavily from the original "Habitat 67" urban residential concept introduced by architect Moshe Safdie for Expo 67.
Read more about this topic: Expo 17