An intelligent planning model for the development and utilization of urban underground space with an application to the Luohu District in Shenzhen

Abstract

Development and utilization of Urban underground space (UUS) is one of the key ways for developing sustainable cities. However, the development and utilization of UUS is currently occurring in a passive manner, lacking proactive and quantitative planning. In this paper, an intelligent planning model was established to guide the future development and utilization of UUS. The proposed model, in which more than twenty factors were considered, is capable of analysing the suitability of UUS development in different regions and at different depths. In addition, an improved artificial intervention genetic algorithm (AIGA) with an additional correlation operator was integrated into the proposed model to achieve the optimal two-dimensional (2D) planning scheme by quantitively analysing the matching of the ground surface and underground space, and the compactness and suitability of underground space. A three-dimensional (3D) planning scheme was obtained by analysing the stratification of the underground space and hierarchical development. The proposed intelligent planning model was, subsequently, applied to the development and utilization of UUS in Luohu District in Shenzhen. An analysis of the geological conditions and the current construction status of the ground surface showed that 69.4% of the underground space is suitable for shallow layer developments, and this proportion further increases to 76% for the sub-shallow, sub-deep and deep layers, indicating that the Luohu District is highly suitable for developing underground space. Furthermore, the derived optimal 2D planning scheme indicated that the suitability component plays a greater important role in the objective values than the matching and compactness components, and more attentions should be paid to the development of municipal facilities in the shallow layer in Luohu District. The derived 3D planning scheme of Luohu District showed the characteristics of an “inverted cone”, where the utilization rate significantly decreases with increasing depth. The findings in this paper provide new insights for the future development and utilization of UUS.