Planning an adaptive reuse development of underutilized urban underground infrastructures: A case study of Qingdao, China

Urban underground infrastructures (UUIs) are a vital component of built capital for urban sustainability. However, many cities are now home to a multitude of disused or underutilized UUIs, not least aged purpose-built underground facilities, causing a waste of valuable underground space resource assets. In the process of urban renewal, adaptive reuse can be an attractive solution to breathe new life into underutilized UUIs, while addressing some of the modern problems of the built environment by an economically feasible means. Nevertheless, there is a prevalent absence in the current literature of the overarching planning and decision-making approaches for an adaptive reuse development of underutilized UUIs. With the intention of addressing this shortfall, this paper first lays out development strategies, then sets the generic patterns for adaptive reuse of disused or underutilized UUIs. Taking the city of Qingdao, China as a case study, detailed planning and decision-making approaches with the aid of multi-source data and spatial analysis tools are presented. It is anticipated that the findings of this research will assist the adaptive reuse development of UUIs in providing theoretical guidance and empirical evidence, thereby enhancing the role of urban underground space use in contributing to urban revitalization and urban sustainability.