Giant construction project takes shape in remote North Korea

Yahoo – AFP, Sebastien BERGER, September 20, 2019

.Greenhouses in Samjiyon devoted to growing crops for the chronically
undernourished North (AFP Photo/Ed JONES)

Like a scene from an epic film, thousands of workers swarm over the building sites of Samjiyon, a monumental construction project in the far reaches of North Korea ordered by leader Kim Jong Un.

They clamber over wooden scaffolding and dangle from window frames, and whether they are carrying loads, sifting sand or mixing concrete, most of the work is carried out by hand.

The plan involves nothing less than the rebuilding of the entire town of Samjiyon, the seat of a county that includes the supposed birthplace of Kim's father and predecessor Kim Jong Il, and Mount Paektu, the spiritual birthplace of the Korean nation.

The plan involves the rebuilding of the entire town of Samjiyon, the seat 

of a county that includes the supposed birthplace of Kim's father Kim Jong Il 

(AFP Photo/Ed JONES)

It encompasses a museum of revolutionary activities, a winter sports training complex, processing plants for blueberries and potatoes -- two of the area's most important crops -- a new railway line to Hyesan, and 10,000 apartments.

It is the kind of showpiece scheme that can only be launched by a state as monolithic as North Korea, where authorities can decide to deploy vast amounts of resources and manpower to a single goal and implement it by order.

The results can be striking -- thousands of houses were built in just three months after flooding hit North Hamgyong province in 2016.

But doubts have been raised about the sustainability of such projects once the physical infrastructure is established, with questions over issues ranging from utility supplies to durability and economic viability.

Kim inspected the Samjiyon Potato Farina Production Factory last year 

(AFP Photo/KCNA VIA KNS)

'Home of our revolution'

Leader Kim has himself addressed such concerns on his several inspection visits to Samjiyon -- one of which, last year, saw him photographed sitting with officials on a mountain of potatoes, which he is encouraging to diversify the food sources in the chronically undernourished North.

The builders should prioritise quality over speed, he told them at the time, with the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) citing him saying that if construction was "gorgeous in appearance but poor in substance, it will be blamed by the people and future generations".

He has also stressed the need to ensure sufficient electricity supplies in the drive to turn Samjiyon, the "home of our revolution" into "a highly civilised mountainous city" and "the richest county in the country", according to KCNA.

Greenhouses in Samjiyon devoted to growing crops for the chronically 

undernourished North (AFP Photo/Ed JONES)

It is an ambitious goal in a remote, challenging environment, with long, bitterly cold winters and mountainous terrain, and an area where many roads are still unsealed.

According to local officials, around half of the workforce in Samjiyon county -- which has a population of 25,000 -- are employed in maintaining its historic sites and related activities, 20 percent in agriculture and the rest in industry, including food processing.

'Hostile forces'

Pyongyang has given no figures for the cost of the redevelopment, which will open in phases with Kim ordering completion by the 75th anniversary of the foundation of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea in October next year.

The project includes plans to build 10,000 apartments (AFP Photo/Ed JONES)

Some of the Samjiyon buildings already appear finished with their exteriors tiled, others remain just concrete shells.

Many of the builders are soldiers -- much of the North's army is devoted to construction -- while others are civilians, and they work even on the harvest holiday of Chusok, one of Korea's most important traditional festivals.

Students have been sent to work on the scheme during university holidays and some of those on site appear to be teenagers.

Many of the builders are soldiers -- much of the North's army is devoted 

to construction (AFP Photo/Ed JONES)

But while the North is never short of manpower, observers suggest that sanctions imposed on Pyongyang over its nuclear and ballistic missile programmes have impacted projects such as Samjiyon and the giant Wonsan-Kalma tourist development -- which has repeatedly been delayed -- on the west coast.

KCNA quoted Kim in April calling Samjiyon "a fierce class and political struggle against the hostile forces seeking to check the advance of the DPRK".

What lies beneath: Singapore plans a subterranean future

Yahoo – AFP, Martin Abbugao, September 1, 2019

Singapore has already built an underground highway and state-of-the-art air
conditioning system, but is now looking to house more facilities beneath
the surface in order to optimise land use above it (AFP Photo/Roslan RAHMAN)

Singapore (AFP) - Space-starved Singapore has expanded outwards by building into the sea and upwards by constructing high-rises but planners are now looking underground as they seek new areas for growth.

The nation has carefully managed its rapid growth in recent decades to avoid the problems faced by other fast developing Asian metropolises, such as overcrowding and traffic chaos.

But with its population of 5.6 million expected to grow steadily in coming years, authorities are now considering how to better use the space below the streets in a city that is just half the size of Los Angeles.

Singapore has already built an underground highway and state-of-the-art air conditioning system, but is now looking to house more facilities beneath the surface in order to optimise land use above it.

"We need to consider options for putting critical infrastructure underground," Abhineet Kaul, a Singapore-based public sector specialist at consultancy Frost & Sullivan, told AFP.

"We have an increasing need for industrial, commercial, residential and green space on land in Singapore."

A huge subterranean system that pumps chilled water around one district has 

helped some buildings reduce energy consumption by around 40 percent, engineers 

say (AFP Photo/Roslan RAHMAN)

According to a draft development plan released in March, authorities want to put utilities, transport as well as storage and industrial facilities underground in order to free up land on the surface.

There are as yet no plans to put housing underground, however.

Three-dimensional technology will be used to produce subterranean maps, with three pilot areas targeted initially, according to the Urban Redevelopment Authority, which created the development plan.

Digging deep

Singapore is the latest city to try to make use of subterranean space.

Finland's capital Helsinki has tunnels housing car parks, shopping malls and even swimming pools, while Montreal in Canada has a so-called "Underground City", a tunnel network connecting key points.

In a report commissioned by Samsung about what the world will look like in 50 years, experts predicted the appearance of "earthscrapers" -- like an inverted skyscraper burrowing downwards for many storeys -- in an attempt to save space in overcrowded cities.

Singapore's main method of expansion has been land reclamation from the sea, which 

has increased the country's area by over a quarter (AFP Photo/Roslan RAHMAN)

Singapore's main method of expansion has been land reclamation from the sea, which has increased the country's area by over a quarter to 720 square kilometres (280 square miles), with most growth happening since independence in 1965.

But reclamation has become more expensive as it moved to deeper waters, while countries that used to sell sand to Singapore have stopped exports due to environmental concerns.

Unregulated sand mining erodes beaches and riverbanks, affecting wildlife and removing natural barriers to flooding, and dredging the seabed can damage ecosystems, green groups say.

Moving facilities underground has advantages beyond saving space, including reduced use of air conditioning which could save energy in Singapore's tropical climate.

Still, building underground in Singapore poses challenges -- construction is difficult beneath an already urbanised environment while new projects will compete for space with existing subterranean facilities.

"Underground construction normally involves the blasting of rocks and if it's in the downtown area, you will not be able to use blasting," said Chu Jian, a civil and environmental engineering professor at the Nanyang Technological University (NTU).

Building underground also poses challenges - construction is difficult beneath 

an already urbanised environment (AFP Photo/Roslan RAHMAN)

'Next frontier'

One of the most ambitious underground projects so far in Singapore is a system that pumps chilled water through pipes to cool buildings around the city-state's popular waterfront district of Marina Bay.

Buildings which use the centralised system -- rather than relying entirely on their own air conditioners -- have reduced energy consumption by around 40 percent, said Foo Yang Kwang, chief engineer of Singapore District Cooling, SP Group, which is behind the project.

Reduced energy use has enabled the buildings to slash their annual carbon dioxide emissions by 34,500 tonnes, which is equivalent to taking 10,000 cars off the road, he said.

Other current subterranean facilities in Singapore include Southeast Asia's longest underground expressway, measuring 12 kilometres (7.4 miles), the metro train, an ammunitions depot, and rock caverns beneath the seabed which are used to store oil.

NTU, one of the city's top institutes of higher education, is considering building labs and even classrooms underground, according to Chu.

But he said shifting things underground is just one way of coping as the city-state grows: "It is the next frontier, but not the final frontier.

"I am confident that we will be able to figure out other ways to create new space."