Software could help prevent disaster in sinking cities

Dr Andrew Sowter, a mathematician and scientist at the University of Nottingham Ningbo, China (UNNC), is developing a computer program that will help Chinese authorities identify with greater accuracy exactly where, and by how much, structures are moving.

The UNNC scientist’s software will analyse satellite images gathered over several years to reveal how much land has moved, in millimetres, across the entire city.

The National Natural Science Foundation of China − affiliated to China’s highest governing body, the State Council − has granted funding of about ¥500,000 (about £50,000) for research that will use Shanghai as a case study.

Shanghai, like several other coastal cities in China, is built on marshy soil, making it vulnerable to sinking. One of the most densely populated cities in the world, it is believed to be sinking at an average rate of 2-4cm a year, putting pressure on underground pedestrian and railway tunnels, and building foundations.

In 2003, subsidence was blamed for the collapse of an eight-storey building in Shanghai’s inner-city Bund region, which is known for its iconic commercial real estate.