Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC) has issued requests for proposals for three consultancy contacts at the Expo 2020 site in the Jebel Ali area.

The three roles cover the infrastructure design and supervision, urban planning and the design public spaces, as well as the design of the development’s souq/market area.

The Expo site, which is one of the most high-profile projects in Dubai, includes a 1.68-square-kilometre ticketed area. The concept design includes an open plaza called Al-Wasl, meaning ‘the connection’ and which is also a historical name for Dubai.

The masterplan for the Expo site is being prepared by a team of US-based HOK and the UK’s Arup, which was appointed in August 2014 to further develop the preliminary masterplan that the team worked on for the Expo bid. A detailed masterplan is due to be submitted this year to the Expo’s organisers, the Paris-based Bureau International des Expositions (BIE).

When Dubai secured the rights to host the Expo it said it will require €6.5bn ($7.4bn) of investment for development and operational costs until the end of the event.

DWTC has also received proposals from architects for the design of a residential development at the Expo 2020 site. The development will include serviced apartments and residential units split into four sectors sitting on top of podiums, together with associated infrastructure such as roads.

In November 2014, DWTC appointed a team of US-based CH2M Hill and UK-based Mace Group for the programme management of the real-estate development at the Dubai Trade Centre Jebel Ali development, which includes the site that will be used for the 2020 Expo.

The UK Export Finance (UKEF) has issued a letter of interest worth $500m for projects that are part of the Expo programme.

Other projects that will support the Expo are also starting to move ahead. The largest is a new metro line that will carry an expected 25 million visitors to the site between 20 October 2020 and 10 April 2021.

The Roads & Transport Authority (RTA) is planning to hold an industry briefing on 7 May for firms interested in working on the new metro link. In mid-April, the RTA invited firms to express interest by 30 April for the project, which is now known as Route 2020.

The project involves building a 15km-long line branching off the existing Red Line at the Nakheel Harbour & Tower station close between the Ibn Battuta Mall and Jumeirah Lake Towers stations.