Chapter 4

Spatial design – creating a new urban tissue

Chapter 4 really is a core chapter for us when it comes to developing underground urbanism. It starts with showing how in the early days, underground space was very much seen as the urban service layer, a place to literally bury that what needed to be out of sight. We argue that it can be so much more than that, that it needs to be more for our cities of the future. To be so, it requires us to design our underground spaces in a specific way, for example by taking into account that public space needs to be created as much as private space is.

The vibrancy of underground spaces can only come about through sufficient accessibility and by providing the variety is uses that make plazas and indeed streets attractive places in which to exist.

On underground urbanism

It should focus on the question: how can the use of underground space contribute to our cities and their liveability?Although it is clear that an urban service layer can serve (and is already serving) the city, another question is: should we limit ourselves to this use – and is this using the subsurface in the best way?