Overview
![](/assets/images/picto-drapeau-france-3a76576a5d60a512053b4612ab58dae5.png)
ABSTRACT
Although just like general urbanism, underground urbanism, little known by the general public, fulfills major urban functions. The underground must be used in order to ensure sustainable urbanism. This article deals with an historical and geographical overview of the achievements of underground urbanism. Works from Antiquity are firstly studied in order to highlight technical innovation; from London to Paris, several examples are then provided and the case of the Far-East is also presented. Strategic and safety applications as well as projects for the future conclude this article.
Read this article from a comprehensive knowledge base, updated and supplemented with articles reviewed by scientific committees.
Read the articleAUTHOR
-
Pierre DUFFAUT: Honorary Chairman, Espace souterrain (French Tunnel and Underground Space Association)
INTRODUCTION
Underground urban planning is not conceived outside of "general" urban planning. Since its definition by Édouard Utudjian in the early 1930s, it has simply been a little-known part of urban planning. If, for the general public, urban planning has first and foremost an aesthetic dimension, conveying majesty and power, this dimension disappears as soon as the structures are invisible. But above all, urban planning is about satisfying major urban functions (access, mobility, hygiene, conviviality). Yesterday, security justified fortifications, watchtowers and guarded gates. Today, the city's primary mission is to satisfy the needs of its inhabitants, and only then those of visitors. There's no clear dividing line between architecture and urban planning; it's more a question of scale, from the building to the city, via the street, the block and the neighborhood.
More generally, the subsoil appears as the "hidden face" of the territory, a volume in truth. While most authors agree that the surface should be reserved for man, sustainable urban planning must make the most of the subsoil to create the best possible environment for man. By virtue of their position, the soil and subsoil provide the city with a natural infrastructure, gradually supplemented by built structures, roads and associated networks. But the subsoil can do so much more, hosting a significant proportion of urban functions and services. However, it is essential to plan the uses of underground space, as an integral part of the overall urban space, in space and time.
Following this historical and geographical panorama of underground projects, which are insufficiently known to engineers (and even less to elected representatives and civil society as a whole) because they are less visible than above-ground projects, or not visible at all, a second dossier is presented. will look at the conditions of practice, the why of using the subsoil: demand and supply, and the how: geological and legal constraints. The aim is to explain why the use of the subsoil can solve so many problems, and how it can be incorporated into urban planning practice. In addition, regional planning can also benefit from this dossier, as the "countryside" also has its own subsoil, with its traditional and future uses.
This dossier opens up a broader field for underground urban planning than has been the case up to now, a field that is mobilizing and will continue to mobilize more and more technical innovations, which in turn will expand the range of possible uses of the subsoil in the service of mankind.
Exclusive to subscribers. 97% yet to be discovered!
You do not have access to this resource.
Click here to request your free trial access!
Already subscribed? Log in!
![](/assets/images/logo-eti-286623ed91fa802ce039246e516e5852.png)
The Ultimate Scientific and Technical Reference
This article is included in
Public works and infrastructure
This offer includes:
Knowledge Base
Updated and enriched with articles validated by our scientific committees
Services
A set of exclusive tools to complement the resources
Practical Path
Operational and didactic, to guarantee the acquisition of transversal skills
Doc & Quiz
Interactive articles with quizzes, for constructive reading
Underground urban planning
Bibliography
References
Theses
Specialized conferences
GECUS congresses: 6 congresses, from Paris, 1937, to Warsaw, 1975
Symposium "Large permanent underground openings", Oslo 1969
Symposium "Development and Utilization of Underground Space", Kansas City, 1975
Rockstore" and "Subsurface Space" symposia, Stockholm 1977 and 1980
AFTES Congress "Underground and Local Authorities",...
Trade magazines
Gallerie, quarterly (bilingual English-Italian)
Le Monde souterrain, monthly magazine from 1933 to 1975
Mines and quarries, monthly
Tunnel, bimonthly (bilingual English-German)
Tunnelling and Underground Space Technology, quarterly since 1985
Tunnels and Tunnelling International, monthly
...Organizations
AFTES (French Tunnel and Underground Space Association, Paris) http://www.aftes.asso.fr
AITES (Association internationale des travaux en souterrain, Lausanne) http://www.ita-aites.org
Ar'site, Architecture-Site, Habiter la Roche et le...
Exclusive to subscribers. 97% yet to be discovered!
You do not have access to this resource.
Click here to request your free trial access!
Already subscribed? Log in!
![](/assets/images/logo-eti-286623ed91fa802ce039246e516e5852.png)
The Ultimate Scientific and Technical Reference