Evaluation of urban underground space resources using digitalization technologies

Exploitation and utilization of urban underground space resources is gaining increasing attention in cities’ sustainable development. Due to the attributes of fragility and irreversibility, urban underground space resources can be extremely vulnerable to damage and it is often difficult in restoring their original state once damaged. Therefore, scientific and reasonable evaluation of urban underground space resources is of vital importance in urban planning and development. This paper first describes the content and methods for the evaluation of urban underground space resources, and introduces the digitalization technologies to handle the problems of strong subjectivity, low efficiency and rough precision encountered when using traditional evaluation tools. Then, the related concepts and main technologies for digitalization were demonstrated and an intelligent GIS-based engineering geology system was built. Based on the drilling information in Changzhou City, stratum standardization and 3D modeling of strata, underground structures and pipelines were conducted in the built intelligent system. Finally, with the help of spatial overlay analysis in the GIS-based platform and a combination of other digitalization technologies, the urban underground space resources of Changzhou City were evaluated. Maps of geological suitability were produced, which provide scientific guidance and reference for the exploitation and planning of urban underground space resources in Changzhou City. In addition, site selection for key projects was conducted based on the evaluation results using this platform.