At present, public underground space development in cities such as Zhengzhou and Luoyang in Henan Province is in its initial stage and lacks orderly planning. On January 24, Zheng Gaofei, member of the 12th Henan Provincial CPPCC and chairman of the Zhengzhou Municipal Committee of the Jiusan Society, said in an interview with a reporter from Dahe Net that underground space development requires the establishment of scientific, comprehensive and forward-looking planning.
The extension of urban development space from the surface to underground, and the transfer of some urban functions from the surface to underground, have become an inevitable trend in world urban development. This is also an important symbol for measuring a city's modernization and one of the important ways to alleviate the contradiction between urban land supply and demand and guide urban land use from extensive development toward intensive development.
In Zheng Gaofei's view, Henan cities represented by Zhengzhou and Luoyang generally lack necessary connections with surrounding land in underground space development, and a series of issues such as the definition, development and construction of public underground space within urban areas urgently need to be resolved.
Both Zhengzhou and Luoyang have begun building subways. Zheng Gaofei believes that with the rapid advancement of urbanization, related plans such as rail transit and municipal pipelines are constantly being adjusted and updated, and the lack of organic connection with the rail transit system results in poor predictability in the development and utilization of underground space, making losses likely.
“The function of public transportation should be further reflected in the preparation of underground space plans, and control and guidance of underground public transportation should be strengthened.” On how to plan underground space more scientifically, Zheng Gaofei suggested that urban decision-makers should prioritize the construction of integrated utility tunnels, promote the construction of underground complexes, advance the comprehensive development and utilization of underground rail transit, and pay attention to layered three-dimensional comprehensive development, horizontal connectivity of related spaces, and coordinated development of surface buildings and underground projects.
The ultimate goal is to establish a composite and modern comprehensive utilization system for urban underground space that is compatible with urban development space, combines with above-ground space development, takes underground rail transit as the framework, and consists of underground transportation facilities, underground public facilities, underground disaster prevention and mitigation facilities, and underground municipal facilities.
Regarding the rational development of underground space, Zheng Gaofei also proposed establishing a coordination committee composed of provincial government leaders and heads of relevant administrative departments to create a unified and efficient urban underground space management agency; formulating the Measures for the Management of Urban Underground Space Development and Utilization to promote local composite legislation; using incentive policies to guide the sound development of urban underground space; and preparing an overall plan for underground space development.