Urban underground space capacity demand forecasting based on sustainable concept: A review

Abstract

Urban underground space (UUS) capacity demand forecasting is key to ensuring the rational use of natural resources and sustainable urban development. Due to the high cost and irreversibility of UUS development, insufficient and excessive forecasts of development capacity will detrimentally affect urban energy conservation, carbon reduction, and resource waste reduction efforts. A comprehensive literature review was therefore undertaken, showing that there have been few studies on UUS capacity demand forecasting, the selection of forecasting indicators lacks consideration of energy conservation and sustainability, and extant forecasting methods are diverse and unsystematic, all of which makes effective forecasting difficult. The relationship between UUS capacity demand forecasting and urban energy conservation and sustainable development objectives was investigated. The UUS forecasting indicators were then systematically classified as external driving indicators and internal construction indicators, and existing forecasting methods were divided into three main categories according to calculation approach—superposition, ratio, and supplemental—each comprising various associated methods. Finally, it is proposed that the adoption of forecasting indicators and methods must take into account the characteristics of energy-saving sustainability, and in the context of low-carbon development, more attention will be paid to energy-saving sustainability indicators such as natural climate, the physical environment, and inherent environment in the future UUS development. Concurrently, quantitative planning data technology can provide solid technical support for the scientific forecasting of UUS capacity demand.