MANAGEMENT OF URBAN UNDERGROUND SPACE DEVELOPMENT IN SHANGHAI: EXPERIENCE AND CHALLENGES

19th WORLD CONFERENCE OF THE ASSOCIATED RESEARCH CENTRES FOR THE URBAN UNDERGROUND SPACE, Belgrade, Serbia, November 4-7, 2025. (Paper No: 1.20.41,  pp. 207-218)

 

АУТОР(И) / AUTHOR(S): Chen-Xiao Ma, Zi-Jian Li, Fang-Le Peng

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DOI:  10.46793/ACUUS2025.1.20.41

САЖЕТАК / ABSTRACT:

Since the concept of urban underground space (UUS) utilization was first written into the Shanghai Master Plan (1999-2020), there has been a significant surge in UUS development, with the total area reaching 155 million m2 by the end of 2023. Establishing a robust management system to promote cooperation between public and private sectors and to achieve interdepartmental collaboration is crucial for ensuring high efficiency of UUS development. This paper systematically analyzed the evolution of UUS management in Shanghai over the past three decades through expert consultations, field investigations and government document analysis. The results indicated that the legislation pathway of ‘specialized first, comprehensive later’ and ‘policies first, regulations later’ has shaped the current ‘1+N+N’ regulation framework in Shanghai, providing full coverage of UUS scopes and utilization processes. Furthermore, clarifying municipal and district-level competent authorities for UUS utilization was crucial during the rapid development phase of UUS. Another feature of UUS management in Shanghai was the flexible adjustment of competent authorities in response to urban development demands. Empowering UUS planning with statutory effectiveness standardized UUS development by private sectors. The government-dominated and market-driven mode of UUS construction achieved a win-win situation for the government, the public and developers. As Shanghai has entered a new urbanization phase characterized by urban renewal, the existing UUS management faces new challenges. How to improve the local comprehensive statute for UUS utilization, how to optimize incentive policies, how to construct an effective interdepartmental coordination platform based on the new competent authority, how to establish UUS management mechanisms applicable to urban renewal and how to supplement unit level plans to bridge the gap between UUS master plans and detailed plans, remained critical issues to be addressed. This paper aims to provide insights into UUS management for other high-density metropolitan cities.

КЉУЧНЕ РЕЧИ / KEYWORDS:

urban underground space, legal system, management mechanism, planning system, Shanghai

ПРОЈЕКАТ / ACKNOWLEDGEMENT:

The authors express gratitude to Shanghai Green Building Council, Shanghai Tongji Engineering Consulting Co., Ltd. and SGIDI Engineering Consulting (Group) Co., Ltd. for their help in expert consultations and field investigations. This work was supported by the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation [Grant number: 2024M762417] and National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) [Grant number: 42071251].

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