Cities are the future of the world, and at the depth of 20 meters underground, it carries the future of cities. When it comes to urban underground space engineering, many people may think of the subway and light rail. What is urban underground space engineering anyway? As Wu Dongyan, deputy dean of the College of Civil Engineering and Architecture at Wenzhou University, told reporter, the development of urban underground space includes transportation and commercial facilities such as underground pedestrian passage, subway, underground highway, underground commercial street and underground logistics, as well as municipal facilities such as comprehensive pipe gallery and urban flood storage.

Recently, the Ministry of Education released the Filing and Approval Results of Undergraduate Majors in Regular Institutions of Higher Learning in 2021, and the Urban Underground Space Engineering major of Wenzhou University is listed.

The major of Urban Underground Space Engineering is subordinate to civil engineering. Currently, there are more than 400 colleges and universities specialized in civil engineering in China, but less than 1/5 of them offer urban underground space engineering. Among the 19 undergraduate colleges and universities with civil engineering major in Zhejiang Province, no university has established this major. Therefore, the Urban Underground Space Engineering major of Wenzhou University is the first major of the kind of undergraduate colleges and universities in Zhejiang Province, which will be set up in the College of Civil Engineering and Architecture of our university. 

Founded in 1984, the College of Civil Engineering and Architecture of Wenzhou University has established sound teaching and scientific research platforms, such as Zhejiang Tideland Reclamation and Ecological Protection Collaborative Innovation Center, Zhejiang Key Laboratory of Engineering and Technology for Soft Soil Foundation and Tideland Reclamation, Zhejiang Wenzhou University Experimental Teaching Demonstration Center of Architecture and Civil Engineering, Wenzhou Building Energy-saving Emission Reduction and Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Engineering Technology Research Center, and Wenzhou Industry and Education Integration Demonstration Base.

For more than a decade, the college, focusing on the local industry and regional characteristics, has formed the research direction of super soft soil foundation and tideland reclamation engineering technology, green building and new materials, solid waste resource utilization, intelligent monitoring technology and so on. In particular, it has made a large number of landmark scientific research achievements in traffic soft soil engineering and dredging sludge treatment, including one second prize of national technological invention (ranking 1), one second prize of national science and technology progress (ranking 3), and more than 10 provincial, ministerial and society level awards including the first prize of Zhejiang science and technology won in the first unit.

The Civil Engineering major of Wenzhou University is a national first-class construction major, a characteristic major of Zhejiang Province and a first-class discipline of Zhejiang Province, which provides a good discipline support for the new major. The major of Urban Underground Space Engineering is based on the dominant discipline of soft soil engineering of the College. Wu Dongyan, deputy dean of the College, said that this major focuses on urban underground space engineering under soft soil conditions. On the basis of the theoretical knowledge of mathematics, mechanics and engineering structure required by civil engineering, students will learn and master the professional knowledge of underground space planning, geotechnical mechanics, underground structure engineering design and construction, construction management and other professional knowledge. Furthermore, based on the regional background of soft soil engineering in coastal areas, the urban underground space under soft soil is organically combined to form the characteristics of the major of thick foundation, strong practice, emphasis on characteristics and innovation.

Wenzhou University Urban Underground Space Engineering major began to recruit students officially this year. It is expected to recruit 40 people. Applicants from the Zhejiang Province are required to take part in Physics examination.