RILS Director shares views on issue of land subsidence

Prof. DING Xiaoli, Director of the Research Institute for Land and Space (RILS) and Chair Professor of Geomatics in the Department of Land Surveying and Geo-Informatics, was interviewed by the journal Nature and BBC World Service’s programme “Newshour”, to share his views on issue of land subsidence. Prof. DING pointed out that subsidence is a problem in many parts of the world. He said that, in cities such as Macao and Hong Kong where no groundwater is used, subsidence mainly comes from consolidation — downward movement as a result of soil being compressed — after land reclamation.

A paper recently published in Science suggested that some 16% of the mapped area of China’s major cities is sinking rapidly, and one in ten residents of China’s coastal cities could be living below sea level within a century. Prof. Ding said that the study provides an interesting snapshot of the situation in China, and crucially links the issue to the populations affected.

Online coverage:

Nature - https://polyu.me/4b2VFE5

BBC World Service - https://polyu.me/3xKqaQY (45:05 - 49:05) (registration required)

Jandan - https://polyu.me/3U8hueF