Dr Martin Smith is Science Director for BGS Global. He joined the British Geological Survey in 1981 and has extensive experience in UK and African geology and in the leadership and management of research. In 2016, Martin was awarded an MBE for services to geoscience.
Want to see
what is possible with urban geology? Then head to Shanghai. Since 2004
geologists, engineers and GIS experts from the Shanghai Institute of Geological
Survey have captured 7 million boreholes and >50 million pieces of data to
construct a huge database and detailed fly through 3D models of the city’s
subsurface. These are being used for infrastructure planning (100,000 borehole
dataset for metro tunnels alone), space storage, geothermal energy and
management of subsidence.
The city has
previously subsided, in places, by up to 3.5m and over 400 sites are identified
with quicksand and foundation issues. Chinese geoscientists have now developed their
own version of a UK GeoEnergy Observatory. Called Triune, it links real time
arrays of GPS stations and 800 monitoring groundwater wells with InSAR
data to detect change and inform engineering works that now control subsidence
to within 6mm. Advanced development and use
of fibre-optic cables to sensor the sub-surface is also being developed as part
of the ‘Translucent cities’ programme, linking universities in Singapore, Nanjing
and Cambridge.
If that’s
not enough, in the Shanghai Urban Planning Exhibition Centre they have the world’s
largest model display of a city and an exhibition that includes an amazing 3D
bedrock surface model with an emphasis on why geology matters to the city.
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| View of the Shanghai city centre model, looking downstream along the Huangpu river |
To further
enhance your urban experience, for $1000 per night you can stay in a
subterranean room in the Shanghai Intercontinental hotel that is bolted into
the walls of a quarry 50m below sea level. At a cost of 2 billion yuan and 10
years in construction, this hotel is a unique marriage between human
engineering ingenuity and a faulted basaltic sill.
 |
| The Shanghai Intercontinental Hotel |
So why was BGS in Shanghai? At the annual meeting of the Co-ordinating Committee for Geoscience
Programmes in East and SE Asia (CCOP) in South Korea back in November 2018, the
three Directors of the China Geological Survey (CGS), the Geological Survey of
Finland (GTK) and the BGS agreed to explore opportunities for joint
collaboration on the topic of urban geology.
And so it
was that Martin Smith, Tim Kearsey, Lei Wang and Raushan Arnhardt of BGS went to Shanghai to progress the initial meeting by signing a Memorandum
of Understanding (MOU). Over a
3-day workshop on Urban Geology and Underground Space Planning, we shared
presentations and discussion between the three surveys on capabilities and
collaboration. The BGS presented some of the range of urban activities being
undertaken, both in the UK and as part of the Official Development Assistance (ODA)
programme. In turn we learned what GTK are up to in the areas of urban
geochemistry and geophysics, risk mapping and Building Information Modelling
for Helsinki.
And so it
was that Martin Smith, Tim Kearsey, Lei Wang and Raushan Arnhardt from BGS went to Shanghai to progress the initial meeting by signing a Memorandum
of Understanding (MOU). Over a
3-day workshop on Urban Geology and Underground Space Planning, we shared
presentations and discussion between the three surveys on capabilities and
collaboration. The BGS presented some of the range of urban activities being
undertaken, both in the UK and as part of the Official Development Assistance (ODA)
programme. In turn we learned what GTK are up to in the areas of urban
geochemistry and geophysics, risk mapping and Building Information Modelling
for Helsinki.
 |
| Participants at the Urban Geology Workshop from BGS, GTK and CGS |
For some of
the team, this was their first visit to
China. When it comes to accomplishments in the field of urban geology in
China, the words staggering, progressive, ambitious and aspirational are no
exaggeration. City development in China is anticipated to peak in the next 10 years with up to 70% of the population urbanized. CGS, now mandated by the Chinese Government, are currently undertaking the 1:50,000 scale revision of 338 cities across China. With 140 cities completed to date, 19 will be selected as pilots for detailed multi-factor urban geology studies jointly with the city authorities - BGS are invited to participate. If Shanghai is
anything to go by then the results will be impressive and offer a great
opportunity for BGS researchers to work together with an emerging leader in
this field to realise the ambition of a “web
based service platform allowing real time
evaluation and dynamic generation of geological products”.
The
recommendations from the workshop will form the basis for a concept note on
research topics and funding opportunities. With time this may lead to an Asian
network of urban geologists, city planners and policy
makers that will ultimately underpin the targets of the UN’s Sustainable
Development Goal 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities and extend out along
the Belt & Road Initiative.
Shanghai is
of course more than inspiring cityscapes and an integrated mass transport
system that works (the maglev is very cool), it is all things Chinese: amazing
food, rich culture and an economic hub. The hospitality and organizational
planning of our colleagues in CGS were
outstanding (our thanks especially to Dr Siqui Shu and Dr Weiya Ge). Our last day coincided with the national Dragon
Boat holiday celebrated by races on the Huangpu
River and the organised flow of a significant proportion of the 25 million people
in Shanghai towards the waterfront.
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