Donggu Dao, Century Oriental Plaza, Raffles City... these commercial complexes that can be visited right outside subway exits let residents deeply feel the benefits brought by Ningbo's underground space development.
The reporter learned from the Municipal Housing and Urban-Rural Development Commission that the Implementation Rules for the Management of Underground Space Development and Utilization in Ningbo (Trial) (hereinafter referred to as the Implementation Rules) will come into effect on September 14. Regarding how the Implementation Rules will affect the city's underground space development, utilization, and management, relevant experts from the Municipal Housing and Urban-Rural Development Commission answered related questions.
Citywide underground space area has grown by more than 14.1 million square meters in the past 3 years
As the city's scale continues to expand, the First National Geographic Conditions Census Bulletin of Ningbo shows that the built-up area of cities at and above the county level in the city has reached 524 square kilometers, and underground space development has become an important part of Ningbo's urban construction. In the past 3 years, the city's underground space area has grown by more than 14.1 million square meters, and development forms have become increasingly diverse, expanding from parking and civil air defense to transportation, municipal utilities, commerce, and other types.
However, there are also prominent problems at present, such as insufficient interconnection of underground spaces, a low degree of comprehensive development, and inadequate overall coordination. "Underground space is a precious non-renewable resource, and promoting high-quality development and utilization of underground space cannot be separated from the guidance and promotion of policies and regulations," said a relevant expert from the Municipal Housing and Urban-Rural Development Commission. "In 2016, the city issued the Measures for the Management of Underground Space Development and Utilization in Ningbo (hereinafter referred to as the Measures). The Implementation Rules issued this time refine and supplement the relevant provisions of the Measures and represent an important improvement of the city's underground space regulatory system."
Who manages underground space development and utilization?
Underground space management involves multiple departments, including housing and urban-rural development, planning, land and resources, civil air defense, urban management, and transportation. The Measures stipulate the responsibilities of each department, while the Implementation Rules carry out top-level design for the comprehensive coordinated management of underground space, requiring the establishment of a municipal leading group for underground space development and utilization management headed by a relevant municipal government leader, and clarifying that the Municipal Housing and Urban-Rural Development Commission is responsible for the comprehensive coordination of underground space development and utilization, with its affiliated Municipal Underground Space Development and Utilization Management Service Center responsible for the specific work of underground space development, utilization, management, and service.
In addition, in order to improve management capacity and level, it is required to establish a comprehensive underground space management information system, incorporate information such as the current status of underground space development and utilization, planning and construction management, and archive management into the system, and realize information sharing in underground space management.
How should planning be done well for underground space development?
Because underground space development is highly irreversible and difficult to change once built, only by establishing a systematic and networked spatial system and achieving coordinated aboveground and underground development can economic and social benefits be fully brought into play.
"Underground space development requires special attention to the leading role of planning and the reasonable arrangement of construction sequencing," said an expert from the Municipal Housing and Urban-Rural Development Commission. "An important reason why the underground space in the core area of our city's Eastern New Town is connected into a network and systematically laid out, with a relatively high level of development, is that the relevant requirements for underground space development have been incorporated into the urban regulatory detailed planning."
The Implementation Rules clearly stipulate that underground space planning should be incorporated into the "multi-plan integration" spatial planning system. The city's master plan should propose development goals and overall layout for urban underground space, and the regulatory detailed planning of key areas should put forward planning control and guidance requirements for various control indicators of underground space development and utilization.
How can efficient use of underground space be ensured?
Ningbo not only already has a number of complexes that can be visited right outside subway exits, such as Raffles City, Century Oriental Plaza, and Hongtai Plaza, but last year also completed Donggu Dao, the province's first underground subway commercial block. The advantages of comprehensive development at rail transit stations have been fully demonstrated.
When formulating the Implementation Rules, full recognition was given to the fact that rail transit construction is a major opportunity for Ningbo's underground space development. Policy innovation was carried out in comprehensive development combined with rail transit, stipulating that the rail transit project construction unit may serve as the unified implementation entity and, in accordance with relevant provisions, carry out integrated development and construction of the rail transit project and other adjacent underground spaces.
In terms of practical operation, the Implementation Rules also make clear provisions: for underground projects of over-site properties that need to be built first in combination with rail transit projects, after the relevant departments complete pre-examination in accordance with relevant provisions, the rail transit project construction unit may implement construction; after completion, when the land for the over-site property is transferred, the underground project shall be transferred together and clearly specified in the planning conditions and the land transfer contract.
How can interconnection of underground spaces be achieved?
Isolated underground spaces can hardly form scale effects, while planning guidance and promotion of integrated development are conducive to promoting the connectivity of underground spaces.
The reporter found that the Implementation Rules contain many provisions on underground space connectivity. For example, in terms of land use, it is stipulated that connecting passages across public land required by project planning conditions may obtain the right to use underground space construction land together with the construction project, and the land for connecting passages may be supplied by allocation.
In terms of connection with rail transit, it is stipulated that where planning requirements are met and connection conditions are available, the rail transit construction unit shall support the connection wishes of owners of adjacent plots; the construction funds for the connection shall be borne by the plot owners, and the implementation and construction entity shall be determined through negotiation between both parties.
In terms of management and maintenance, it is stipulated that where an underground space connecting passage involves two or more construction units, the use method and maintenance responsibilities of the connecting passage shall be clearly specified in the land transfer contract, land allocation decision, or relevant construction unit agreements.