Recently, the 2018 Urban Underground Utility Tunnel Big Data Management Seminar was held in Beijing. Sun Fuquan and Luo Meng, Vice Mayors of Mianyang City; Hu Yongsheng of the Architectural Design Institute of Tsinghua University, the lead unit of the national-level research group; Li Dewei, President of the China Big Data and Smart City Research Institute under the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology; Shan Xuegang, Deputy Director of the Public Opinion Data Center of People's Daily Online; and Peng Tieyuan, Secretary-General of the National Big Data Professional Committee, attended the meeting.
　　At present, Chinese cities have more than 20 types of underground pipelines in 8 major categories, with a wide variety of types; the management system and ownership are complex, involving more than 30 functional and ownership departments at the central and local levels. The current status of underground pipelines is unclear, and the problems of urban waterlogging and "road zippers" remain unresolved despite prolonged efforts. Coupled with an imperfect drainage and flood control system, in most cities a single heavy rain can cause disruptions to transportation, communications, and power, and bring operations to a standstill. Dense manholes and repeated excavation of roads seriously affect residents' transportation and normal life, and bring a large number of property and personal safety hazards every year.
　　An urban underground utility tunnel refers to a public tunnel under the city used for the centralized installation of municipal pipelines such as electric power, communications, radio and television, water supply, drainage, heating, and gas. The construction of urban underground utility tunnels not only stimulates the economy but also represents a turning point and transformation point in urban construction, and local governments are highly motivated.
　　Vice Mayor Sun Fuquan said that Mianyang City's use of big data technology advantages to upgrade utility tunnels can accumulate experience for the "digital government" construction of other cities. Vice Mayor Luo Meng said that the municipal government is determined and capable, with the strong support of central ministries and commissions, of doing a good job in underground utility tunnel management. Peng Tieyuan of the National Big Data Professional Committee emphasized the importance of data-based management of urban underground utility tunnels from the perspective of modernizing the national governance system and capacity, and expressed the hope that more city managers can begin building "digital government" starting with underground utility tunnels. Shan Xuegang, Deputy Director of the Public Opinion Data Center of People's Daily Online, said that while building "digital government," the positive role of new government media should be brought into play, and they should become an organic part of "digital government." Gao Zhen of the Science and Technology and Industrialization Development Center of the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development believes that the present is a golden period for the management and construction of urban underground utility tunnels and a mature period for the development of big data technology and utility tunnel technology, and hopes that all cities will promptly make this a core part of "digital government" construction. Professor Hu Yongsheng stressed the need to position top-level design at an international level, to carry out utility tunnel construction with forward-looking vision that will remain unchanged for a century, and to use big data technology to manage underground space well for the benefit of the public.