Going underground. New dimensions for new urban models

Abstract

The dialectic between vertical and horizontal urban development models seems to leave out the depth of the underground. The increasing urbanization, the consequent strong density as well as growing environmental concerns push the search for new models of development towards the subsoil frontier. Recognized resilience properties and a strong potential for sustainability indicate the underground as a natural destination for strategic infrastructures, consolidating its reputation as a surface service layer. Instead, we want to illustrate how the underground can contribute incisively to the revision of urban models by introducing new spatial and performance parameters, both in new and historic contexts, and how it is now urgent to achieve integrated planning and planning of the environment in all its depth.