Underground Infrastructure of Urban Areas



Preface
In most cases, towns have grown up on the basis of industrial capital and relevant rules of industrialization.

It has caused that such towns are malfunctioning, expensive, not ecological with all resulting

consequences impeding everyday life of their inhabitants. Thus, public expectations are that portions

of towns subjecting to modernization and also expansion of such towns would be progressed

with utmost consideration for residential comfort by adapting newly grown town infrastructure to

social, spiritual and cultural needs resulting from changed style of life and continuously changing

scale of values. Creating urbanized space of such features is one among fundamental tasks that

need to be undertaken to fulfil the expectations specified above. This task is also resulting from the

necessity of unifying the towns and adapting them to standards becoming popular due to globalization

process. New projects of modernization and expansion of towns having been now coming

into being must be distinguished by better-than-before use of town space through stereoization

of development, i.e. development of tower-block housing and underground structures. To meet

this condition a higher level of integration of infrastructure systems among which the following

equipment is distinguished:

- equipment related to communication services for the town;

- equipment connected with power management, water supply and sewage disposal system, waste

disposal and management;

- communication and information related systems which, assuming the need of control, also in

respect to the remaining infrastructure systems, create the basis of urban management system.

The most important is however to work out engineering solutions that would be the basis for

creating integrated structures. The fundamental assumption for such studies must be creation of

urbanized space enabling:

- to exchange energy between systems/equipment and to use town heat from some structures, such

as for example communication tunnels, sewage system or power systems, etc.

- self-filling in of the water supply system (by waste water treatment),

- to rise the safety of town inhabitants both in respect of natural threats (flood, seismic and

paraseismic quakes, etc.) and external risks (terrorist or war actions),

- to use the profits resulting from stereoization of town, i.e. temperature, humidity and acoustic

conditions other than those existing over the ground,

- to release the ground space from some functions (first and foremost the communication related

functions) which shall be mainly used for residential and recreational purposes,

- to renovate the historical, cultural and ecological environment of city centres.

Thus, researches, planners and investors must focus their attention on making better use of

underground space as the potential to improve town communication, on expanding centre capacity

by moving many commercial and service function underground, and also on modernization and

integration of underground system to improve their functionalities and to create conditions for

construction and operation of other underground structures.

Should the specified targets be reached, a package of administration regulations preferential for

underground construction would be necessary, such which affects, but are not limited to the rules

of crediting, subsidizing or commissioning the best solutions.

According to experience gained to date in developed countries we can state that the underground

space would be, and often already is, used without any limitations to generally all purposes (except

residential function, which in this way could get more space on the ground). However this would


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