The total value of all contracts and purchase orders to date for Expo 2020 Dubai is approximately AED1.95bn ($530m), according to a recent update released on 25 September.

The update also said that 4.7 million cubic metres of earth has been recycled and moved in preparation for the construction phase of the 4.38-square-kilometre site.

The first infrastructure package, which is one of four packages totalling AED1.3bn, is due to start soon, with completion expected by April 2018. The consultant on this package is US-based Parsons.

The second infrastructure package, which is for the gated area of the site, is set to be tendered soon. The final infrastructure package will include the surface road network.

All infrastructure work will be completed by October 2019.

In August MEED reported that Dubai World Trade Centre, which is developing the Expo Village, invited selected contractors to submit bids by 12 October for the contract to build two sections of the Expo Village Development at the Dubai Expo site.

The two sections that are being tendered are for parcels 10 and 11 of the Expo Village development. When completed the village will be a residential community for staff from the participating countries working on the Expo. In 2014 the Expo committee said that the target completion date for the Expo village was 2018 – ahead of work starting on the Expo pavilions.

The consultant for the Expo Village is the local office of KEO International Consultants.

Architects were selected to design the main pavilions at the site earlier this year. The UAE’s National Media Council (NMC) selected Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava’s falcon-inspired design for the UAE pavilion.

In March, Dubai appointed the UK’s Foster+Partners and Grimshaw Architects, and Denmark’s Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) to design three of the Expo 2020 pavilions.