To effectively promote the orderly construction of various underground facilities across the province, further improve urban functions and ensure urban safety, the "Guidelines for the Compilation of Comprehensive Utilization Plans for Urban Underground Space and Civil Air Defense Engineering" (hereinafter referred to as the "Guidelines") organized and compiled by the Anhui Provincial Department of Housing and Urban-Rural Development and the Anhui Provincial Civil Air Defense Office was recently released.

The "Guidelines" require that in underground space development, it should be based on the overall layout of above-ground and underground spaces in terms of function, region, and form, to achieve integrated planning of above-ground and underground spaces, providing overall guidance and control basis for synchronous implementation, coordination, and reservation of above-ground and underground spaces.

For a long time, in the process of urban construction, the development and utilization of underground space, through vertical optimization of spatial form, has become an important layout principle for urban development. This can not only effectively save urban construction land and expand urban space capacity but is also of great significance for protecting ground landscapes and the environment and optimizing urban functions.

In 2014, the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development and the National Civil Air Defense Office designated Anhui Province as a pilot province for research on urban underground space planning, construction, and management. Anhui Province innovated planning compilation by integrating the urban underground space development and utilization plan and the civil air defense engineering plan into a "two-plan integration," exploring the compilation of the "Comprehensive Utilization Plan for Urban Underground Space and Civil Air Defense Engineering" (hereinafter referred to as the "Comprehensive Utilization Plan").

According to reports, the "Comprehensive Utilization Plan" is a comprehensive and systematic plan for underground space resources. The planning content involves multiple specialized plans such as public service facilities, municipal public facilities, urban comprehensive transportation, green spaces, comprehensive disaster prevention, and historical and cultural protection.

According to the "Guidelines," for cities in the Huaibei Plain and Jianghuai Hilly areas of Anhui, the focus of underground space development and utilization will be on studying the development of underground space from 0 to -30 meters, with deep underground space subject to protection and control to reserve underground space resources for long-term urban construction. For cities along the Yangtze River, the focus of underground space development and utilization is on studying the development of underground space from 0 to -10 meters, with appropriate expansion of secondary shallow underground space development. For cities in the mountainous areas of western and southern Anhui, the focus is on studying the development of underground space from 0 to -30 meters, with appropriate expansion of deep underground space development.

Specifically for urban specialized plans, these include rail transit network planning, historical and cultural protection planning, green space, water system, and scenic area planning, as well as urban public transportation, comprehensive disaster prevention and mitigation, municipal public facilities, medical and health care, and commercial networks, etc.