The implementation of network governance for sustainable urban underground usage, a comparative analysis of the case studies of the cities of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and Helsinki, Finland.

Abstract

Abstract This research investigates how cities faced with the intensification of underground space usage to accommodate urban infrastructure are being required to change their traditional method of planning and management of underground space use. The shift is represented by the replacement of an uncoordinated approach to new forms of planning and management that respects the multiple interactions between stakeholders and takes into consideration the multiple relationships that are created with urban underground usage. The study works with the hypothesis that there is a need for a special form of governance of this layer that may contribute to the capacity of continuance of underground space usage for present and future generations, thus contributing for urban sustainability. Two case studies are developed to verify how the concepts are reflected in these cities’ lives and to compare the choices made by cities’ administrations, presenting their similarities or differences in order to assess how different initiatives may behave in different contexts. These case studies are the Helsinki Underground Master Plan-UMP, one of the world’s most comprehensive and advanced urban underground planning instrument and the Rio de Janeiro’s Project Geovias an initiative designed to map and register under one single database all the underground infrastructure existent in the urban area. aimed to make possible a more efficient arrangement of the city’s underground. The research suggests that the implementation of network governance tools centered on coordination and guidance of interactions and relationships according to shared objectives are examples of operational models of urban governance that modify the way cities plan and manage underground space usage more capable to provide the continuance of underground uses into the future what may be considered as a contribution for urban sustainability as most of these uses are vital for the satisfaction of the city’s essential needs.