Underground usable space exceeds 200 million square meters

In Beijing, besides cultural relics from various dynasties, underground treasures also include more than 200 million square meters of usable space resources. Yesterday, the reporter learned from the Municipal Bureau of Geology and Mineral Exploration that at the Beijing Underground Space and Sustainable Development Forum, which it co-hosted, experts released assessment data on underground space resources. Due to policy, planning, and ownership issues, there is still huge potential to tap into underground space resources.

Results have been proven

Nearly 30,000 "football fields" available underground

At the forum, Zhu Wenjun, a senior engineer at the Underground Engineering Research Institute of the Department of Civil Engineering at Tsinghua University, released the "Beijing Underground Space Resource Assessment" completed by his research group. The analysis shows that the potential of underground space resources within 10 meters depth in Beijing's central city is 90 million square meters, and within 30 meters depth is 209.1 million square meters.

If calculated using a standard football field of 7,140 square meters, the underground space resources within 10 meters depth in the central city could still build 12,605 football fields, and within 30 meters depth could pave 29,285 standard football fields.

How big is 90 million square meters?

"In 2004, Beijing's above-ground building area was 180 million square meters, while at that time, the shallow underground space in Beijing still had 90 million square meters remaining," Zhu Wenjun said. Even if half of the city's current above-ground buildings were moved underground, the development intensity underground would not be very high, but the above-ground spatial form would change significantly.

Experts' suggestions

Transfer municipal safety systems to underground space

"In terms of vertical direction, the first underground floor can be developed into commercial spaces with higher profitability such as retail and dining. The second and third underground floors are often developed into civil air defense spaces, parking spaces, logistics spaces, and municipal facility spaces," suggested Gu Wenxuan, former deputy director of the Urban Planning Department of the Ministry of Construction and chief planner of the China International Engineering Consulting Corporation's Urban Planning and Design Institute.

Shi Xiaodong, deputy chief planner of the Municipal Institute of City Planning and Design, proposed that the government could use the airtightness and strong earthquake resistance of underground space as storage space for important livelihood and urban strategic resources.

Zhu Wenyi, dean of the School of Architecture at Tsinghua University, suggested that Beijing, as an international metropolis, could build landmark underground architectural spatial structures. Based on existing underground buildings, create 8 groups of landmark underground buildings along 8 directions, forming a future Beijing underground architectural layout like stars scattered across the sky. These include Underground Zhongguancun (7.10, -0.17, -2.34%), Olympic Underground Park, CBD Underground City, Wangjing Underground Street, Shougang Underground City, Lize Underground Street, Underground Fatou, and Nanyuan Underground Park.

Recently, the State Council issued the "Opinions on Strengthening Urban Infrastructure Construction," emphasizing adherence to underground first, above-ground later, and giving priority to strengthening infrastructure construction closely related to people's livelihoods such as water supply, gas supply, heating, electricity, communications, public transportation, logistics distribution, and disaster prevention and avoidance.

With these 8 groups of underground structures, Beijing's underground transportation, logistics, and other systems can be connected into a whole.

"The most important aspect of underground space development is the infrastructure that maintains the safe operation of the city," Gu Wenxuan said. Urban underground utility tunnels are one of the main types of urban underground space development. If Beijing can gradually extend municipal facilities such as large underground water supply systems, large underground energy supply systems, and large underground drainage and sewage treatment systems underground, underground utility tunnels will more effectively ensure the safety of the entire city.

Policy gaps exist

Who manages underground space? "Unclear"

In the past 10 years, the average annual completed area of underground space in Beijing has exceeded 3 million square meters. But contrary to this, there is still a lack of a mature system in policy and planning, and there are also practical problems of multi-department management.

In 2001, the Ministry of Construction issued the "Regulations on the Development and Utilization of Urban Underground Space." That year, the city took the lead nationwide in compiling a master plan for underground space, and completed it in 2004. But experts call for the government to consider introducing relevant laws and regulations. "The management system and implementation mechanism for underground space work are imperfect, leading to frequent phenomena of multi-department management, overlapping operations, and overlapping functions, and even blank areas of responsibility," said Chen Jun, a senior engineer at the Beijing Municipal Institute of City Planning and Design.

"Beijing should establish a comprehensive system for the development and utilization of urban underground space resources, which can effectively integrate the current scattered and isolated development and utilization models and the management systems and mechanisms where each department acts on its own," experts proposed. Beijing should incorporate it into the resource management system according to the overall framework of investigation, assessment, planning, management, and legislation.