Hungary recently became the 53rd country to sign the participation contract of Expo Milano 2015, the next universal exposition to be held in the Italian city from 1 May to 31 October 2015.

To date some 128 countries have confirmed their presence in the event, which is estimated will be visited by around 20 million people in the six months of its duration. The theme for the expo is 'Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life'.

The exhibition site is laid out along two perpendicular axes reminiscent of the Cardo and Decumanus of ancient Roman cities. The end points of these two avenues will feature the Lake Arena, an open area on the water for artistic performances and events, as well as the Mediterranean Hill, which reproduces the warm-temperate agricultural ecosystem typical of Italy and providing a panoramic overview of the site.

Other attractions include the Expo Centre and Expo-Cascina Merlata Bridge which provides pedestrian and bicycle connections between the city and the expo site. The Expo Centre is composed of spaces for indoor events and will house an auditorium, conference rooms, a large 3,000sqm (32,291sq ft) performance area and an office building.

The Decumanus is a broad avenue of about 1,5km (0,93 miles) in length. All participating country lots will face this avenue with nations building their own pavilions, participating in expo serviced exhibition spaces or forming part of cluster pavilions. An area of 150,000 sqm (1,614m sq ft) of space has been set aside for official participants.

Italy's participation in the event will be developed along the Cardo, an avenue approximately 400 metres (1,312 ft) long.

Additional facilities which form part of the design include the open-air theatre, which can accommodate 8,000 people and will be dedicated to major open-air shows such as concerts and other performing arts events.

An Architectural Advisory Board for the Masterplan of the expo was formed and is made up of leading architects, Stefano Boeri (Stefano Boeri Architetti), Richard Burdett and Jaques Herzog (Herzog & de Meuron).

Commenting on the expo design, Boeri said: "The project of a global farmland based on a system of large greenhouses that reproduce the climatic conditions of the world, and of dozens of fields cultivated by the different countries participating at Expo 2015, is the true heritage that Expo will leave Milan."