UNDERGROUND DEVELOPMENT - CONCEPT AND APPLICATIONS

Abstract

Today to go underground like the burrowing animals is no longer a mere fantasy as it first appeared to most sane people. The massive underground developments in Japan, America, Germany, France, Korea, China and Russia exemplify the indisputable fact that underground development is a viable alternative to the conventional development. In Singapore, the completion of the MRT system heralded the commencement of the subsurface development era. The large number of bidders’ scramble for the MRT station shop spaces and the forecasts made by the MRTC and the various agencies indicated that the demand for such spaces is promising despite the current shakeout, provided the underground commercial spaces are at the right location. The financial analysis also revealed that the underground commercial development around the MRT stations will be a plausible alternative which is capable of generating high economic returns in spite of the high initial costs. Other considerations such as the geological formation, civil defence, legislative and planning provisions, and others also favour such a development in the context of Singapore. However, with the prevalent market climate and the extent of involvement of government in the development process, it seems that the idea of a massive underground development can only be introduced at a time when the market is flamboyant and prior to that, a political decision has to be made before the private sector and modern technology can assume their roles.