China will take urban geological surveys as a guide, coordinate above-ground and underground development, and gradually incorporate urban underground space into land use planning, while strengthening use control and improving the methods for granting use rights.
Zhuang Shaoqin, spokesperson for the Ministry of Land and Resources and director of the Planning Department, said on the 6th at a press conference on the "Guiding Opinions on Strengthening Urban Geological Work" that the central government has explicitly required "coordinating urban above-ground and underground construction and strengthening urban geological surveys." The purpose of drafting the guiding opinions is to shore up the weak links in geological work in urban planning, construction, and management, expand new space for urbanization development, open up new resources for urbanization construction, and build a new system for urban resource and environmental security. It is necessary to coordinate the development and utilization of above-ground and underground space resources and incorporate them into land use planning, while ensuring alignment with relevant spatial plans. Efforts should be made to explore the implementation of a use control system for underground space, adhere to the principle of public welfare first, and exercise priority control and strict protection over spaces designated in plans for public safety, civil air defense projects, infrastructure, and public service facilities. In accordance with the principles of sustainable consumption and production, rationally plan and lay out the commercial development of underground space resources and the development of mineral resources such as geothermal energy, and strengthen strategic reserves and protection of deep underground space resources.
According to the guiding opinions, the state encourages all localities to adapt to local conditions and explore ways to improve the granting of construction land use rights (underground). For underground construction land used for national defense, civil air defense, disaster prevention, urban infrastructure, and public service facilities that conform to the "Catalogue of Land Allocated by Allocation," land may be supplied by allocation. Industrial, warehousing, commercial, and other profit-oriented projects are encouraged to rationally develop and utilize underground space. Holders of original underground construction land use rights are encouraged to redevelop underground space in conjunction with urban renewal and transformation. The benchmark land price system for underground construction land should be improved to promote the lawful and orderly development and utilization of underground space. Registration of construction land use rights (underground) shall be carried out in accordance with the law to protect the rights of holders to possess, use, benefit from, and dispose of such rights.
Zhuang Shaoqin emphasized that the development of urban underground space includes multidimensional aspects such as resources, ecology, and environment. It is necessary to respect nature, comply with nature, and protect nature, promote the green development of geological resources such as water, soil, and geothermal energy, and accelerate the formation of green urban development modes and green lifestyles. It is necessary to actively promote the rational development of geothermal and shallow geothermal energy, promote the protection of groundwater resources, strengthen monitoring of geological environmental effects, advance the resource utilization of engineering spoil, actively develop geological cultural resources, and enhance the natural and cultural charm of cities.