Underground Space: Alternative Homes
The Geospatial Urban Redevelopment Planning Option For Sydney 2000
S.A. Baggs
Director P.E.O.p.l.
Joint Managing Director, ECA SPACE DESIGN (Australia)
Geotecture town planning techniques have been used for urban redevelopment plans of Sydney. The state of the art urban redevelopment plans utilise tunneling to create alternative homes & underground accomodation for all sectors of the economy.
TOWN PLANNING & URBAN REDEVELOPMENT SUMMARY
The first
150m or so of subterranean space offers town planning and
urban redevelopment an excellent opportunity to utilise a
relatively untapped resource for residential (alternative homes), industrial
and commercial accommodation.
In this zone, it is possible to manipulate the combined
thermal characteristics of the strata beneath and the
atmosphere above with comparatively low energy inputs for
climate control compared with above-ground buildings. The
concept for the urban redevelopment of the city of Sydney into
a low-rise garden-city (while retaining present floor
space ratios) and for the relocation of its industrial
zones into subsurface space along corridors that
'recycle' surface for residential and recreational
purposes was presented to the Institution of Engineers
Tunneling Conference in Sydney, 1990.
Aerial
view of south-east urban redevelpoment.
Generically
referred to as geotecture, both terratecture
(cut-construct-cover) and lithotecture (tunneling) urban redevelopment
technologies are utilised, and include the relocation of
utilities, transit systems and waste treatment plants
into conduits within these corridors.
(The Warren Centre at University of Sydney has
already begun the process of implementation of an
integrated geospatial development of the city of Sydney,
of which this was a forerunner.)
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