PRESENTING ON INCLUSIVE CITIES AT GEC 2018

5 October 2018

The authors presented at the Global Engineering Congress (GEC) on 25 October 2018, in London in the session on 'Planning for inclusivity and connectivity' on the 'Planning of inclusive underground spaces', citing relevant examples from their book. They argued that to integrate underground spaces into the urban fabric and for them to be inclusive, there is a need to address the segregation between private domain and public domain. In the book, this is one of the core issues the authors identify as to why underground space development remains limited. To integrate and be inclusive there is a need for connecting urban corridors but also for spaces that offer unlimited access to all. The ‘Beurs traverse’ in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, was cited as a solution that does exactly this. The creation of privately owned public open spaces (POPOS) such as in New York and San Francisco prove this concept as well.

After the well-received session, the authors signed their book in the prestigious historic ICE library inside the monumental building at One Great George Street in London in the presence of ICE Publishing staff. They also witnessed the ICE being recognised by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) as a Historic Civil Engineering Landmark. The book now resides inside the ICE library amongst works by the most famous civil engineers the world has known.