Underground Masterplan

PROPOSAL: Where do you go when you are running out of available land to build on?

Underground, according to the sub-committee of the Economic Strategies Committee that looked into raising land productivity.

It suggests that vast quantities of underground space can be carved out for new development once a national geology office is set up to conduct surveys, update geological maps, develop a subterranean land rights system and determine how underground areas can be priced.

Such an office could act as a repository for all information on underground Singapore, and provide expert advice to the public and private sectors.

It could reduce the uncertainty involved for developers looking to build underground. And, by providing better information, developments above and below ground could be synchronised.

The state could supplement its ‘land bank’ via the creation of such spaces alongside new underground infrastructure projects such as MRT stations. This will help create new spaces to locate emerging industries.

In true Singapore fashion, the vision is accompanied by an ‘underground masterplan’, somewhat like what the Government draws up regularly to determine the uses and density permitted for specific plots of land (above ground) over a 10- to 15-year period.

POSSIBILITIES: Granite and sedimentary rocks such as sandstone and limestone cover about two-thirds of Singapore, according to the Institution of Engineers Singapore (IES), and it is within these formations that developments can be constructed.

The upside is that technology for such work is established, although experts fear it will take some time before people are willing to accept the idea of living more than six feet underground.

But IES suggests that underground space could be used to house power stations, sports facilities, warehouses, wafer fabrication factories, laboratories, research centres and even incineration plants.

Moving such facilities underground would free up land for housing, parks and open spaces, thereby raising the quality of life.

Furthermore, the legal foundations for the development of subterranean land rights already exist, says Associate Professor Kelvin Low from the Singapore Management University’s School of Law. At present, the owner of a plot of land has the right to build both skywards and into the ground via the creation of basements. This existing framework can easily be adapted for underground developments.

In order to allow two projects on each plot of land, the Government could subdivide state-owned land so that the underground portion is treated separately from that above ground. In the same way, a private owner of land can apply for permission to subdivide his or her plot to allow for dual above- and below-ground construction.

PRECEDENTS: Singapore currently uses underground space to accommodate shopping malls, train networks, new highways, civil defence shelters, pedestrian links, and storage for ammunition and oil. Think CityLink underground mall, which links City Hall MRT station to Suntec City, and the 12km-long Kallang-Paya Lebar Expressway, of which 9km runs underground.

And subterrestrial success stories abound across the world.

The Canadian city of Montreal is well-known for its underground city called Reso. Inhabitants can live, work, eat, exercise and be entertained there without setting foot above ground, where temperatures can slip below 10 deg C for six months of the year.

More than 30km of underground tunnels and ground-level interior walkways link the offices, hotels, malls, movie theatres and museums which are part of this network.

The Japanese city of Osaka also has an integrated underground city centre and no fewer than six underground malls, all of which are connected by rail. The walkways, and office and department store basements form a labyrinth-like subterranean network, adorned with artificial rivers, sunken gardens and glass facades to direct natural light to the basement level.

PRACTICAL PROBLEMS: Despite technological advances, building underground is inherently difficult. Extensive geotechnical studies and mapping are required, plus feasibility studies to ensure projects are viable.

Cost is another big factor, as depending on soil conditions, such developments can end up costing up to three times more than comparable surface structures.

Property consultant Knight Frank’s managing director Danny Yeo feels cost considerations will restrict large underground developments to areas where land costs are high, like Orchard Road.

How to protect existing surface-level property could also prove to be another stumbling block.

According to SMU’s Prof Low, owners of properties next to underground sites are protected by law, given that subterranean developers are deemed liable for any damage to their buildings resulting from construction, even if it is not due to carelessness.

Such liability, he notes, is stricter than that found in some other common law countries like Canada and New Zealand, which require proof that the developer was negligent before he can be made liable.

While Singapore’s stricter regime safeguards the interests of those with terrestrial property, it could render subterranean development more expensive here if neighbouring buildings were shoddily built and hence more easily damaged, he notes.

Source: Straits Times, 6 Feb 2010