A seminar on the development of underground rail transportation in Wuhan was held on Nov 28. Ten experts from Japan, Singapore Beijing and Shanghai joined the meeting.

Tani Taro, an expert in Japanese building design, said the current use of underground space in Wuhan is limited, most of which is for parking lots. How to connect the scattered parking lots still needs further exploration he said. Wangjiadun CBD in Wuhan is beginning to use underground space, guided by the experience of domestic and foreign business districts, and hopes to achieve an integration of underground traffic and business.

Covering an area of 2.61 million square meters, Wuhan CBD underground space collects the subway stations, is used for commerce, transportation, civil air defense facilities and parks. Already, it creates a prosperous, modern and efficient international business district.

According to the overall plan of Wuhan Metro, there will be five subway lines passing Wangjiadun district; namely lines 2, 3, 7, 10, 12. The intersection of Line 3 and 7 will gather huge numbers of people, which is also the core of the underground space’s development and operation.

The layout of the Wangjiadun CBD underground space will be designed as one ring and two axes: ‘one ring’ refers to the round underground traffic conversion system, and ‘two axes’ are the T-shaped business routes.

The development of a city often depends on the development of its traffic. The utilization and development of underground space embodies the modernization of a city. When ground space can no longer alleviate city traffic problems, people turn to the underground. In many developed countries, the use of underground space has become an important way to ease traffic pressure.

To date, the underground space utilized in Tokyo and Shinjuku can accommodate70 to 80 percent of the city’s population. Shanghai’s developed underground space is over 10 million square meters and the city has constructed a large number of underground transportation facilities, infrastructure, underground buildings and civil engineering.

Edited by Nigel Moffy and Le Qin