上海世博会主题馆一共有五座，分别是城市人馆、生命馆、地球馆、足迹馆和未来馆。其中，城市人馆、生命馆和地球馆相互为邻，位于浦东的中心位置，与世博轴相连，使用新建展馆；足迹馆和未来馆则坐落于浦西，是利用工业遗产建筑改造的展馆。上海世博会主题馆将分别从“城市人”、“城市”、“城市星球”、“足迹”和“梦想”这五个关键语来展示世博会的主题“城市，让生活更美好”。城市人馆关注城市内“人”的故事；生命馆把“城市”本身视做一个生命体，展示其内在的结构规律；地球馆注重探讨“人类、城市、星球是共赢、共生的关系”；足迹馆和未来馆，顾名思义将回顾人与城市共同走过的历程并展望未来美好的城市、美好的生活。 
The theme for Expo 2010 covers five conceptual areas: Urbanian, City Being, Urban Planet, Footprint and Dream. Five theme pavilions are established accordingly, and among them Pavilions of Urbanian, City Being and Urban Planet, adjacent to each other, are situated in the center of the Pudong section of the Expo site. They are newly-built pavilions as opposed to Pavilion of Urban Civilization and Pavilion of Future (corresponding to “Footprint” and “Dream” respectively) in the Puxi section of the Expo site that are converted from old industrial buildings. Expo 2010 will have five theme pavilions, namely, Urbanian Pavilion, Pavilion of City Being, Pavilion of Urban Planet, Pavilion of Urban Civilization and Pavilion of Future to reflect the theme of Better City, Better Life. The Urbanian Pavilion centers on life in cities. The Pavilion of City Being regards the city as an artificial life established on the basis of a natural system and comprising complicated activities of society, economy and culture. The Pavilion of Future and the Pavilion of Urban Civilization, as the name implies, mainly displays the harmony between people and cities and shows the imaginations about the future of Better City, Better Life.