We are all familiar with skyscrapers dominating the skylines of our cities. They present a beautiful cityscape with one of the most amazing lightening that displays in a colourful manner. This has become a trend in our cities.
One of the advantages of the skyscraper is that, it occupies relatively more number of people and offices within a manageable small space. 

Skyscrapers are products of smart growth or new urbanism, where the concept proposes for a vertical growth instead of a horizontal growth. Having being familiar with skyscrapers, earthscraper is a term used to describe building downwards into the ground. It is simply the opposite of skyscraper, in other words, it is the downward development of buildings in a vertical direction. 

Cities like Beijing, Singapore and New York, have adopted the concept of going downwards, vertically, however, one major city that have taken the concept to another level is, Helsinki. Helsinki is in Finland, and what really surprised me about their downward development is that, the city has an underground master plan for its whole municipal area. Yes!!! The whole of the municipal area has an underground masterplan. This is really taking the earthscape concept to an entirely whole new level.

Underground reservations and existing facilities/tunnels have been

divided into the following categories on the basis of their main purpose:

1. Community technical systems

2. Traffic and parking

3. Maintenance and storage

4. Services and administration

5. Unnamed rock resource (does not yet have a designated

purpose)

The reservations in the Master Plan are divided into the following four

planning levels:

• Project plan

• Needs specification

• Provisional space requirement

• Space requirement

Underground construction has an extremely important and central role to play in the development of the city structure of Helsinki and the adjoining areas, helping to create a more unified and ecoefficient structure. The Underground Master Plan sets the framework for further planning, enhances the overall economy efficiency of facilities located underground and boosts the safety of these facilities and their use. The planning regulations are broad, allowing facilities to have

different purposes. The Master Plan shows the most important underground facilities and

plans with which the space requirements for confirmed or planned public and private projects can be secured over the longer term. Since the Underground Master Plan has legal status, landowners and

authorities are obligated to adhere to it. The Underground Master Plan has some of the same features as a strategic land preservation plan. It shows land reservations for key projects that are considered

important to society at large. The Underground Master Plan shows both existing and future underground facilities and tunnels. The underground facilities are shown in two colours, grey indicating existing facilities and blue indicating planned facilities. Existing traffic tunnels are portrayed in light grey, while future traffic tunnels are coloured light blue. Space reservations on the Master Plan map are presented two-dimensionally. In the city centre area, approximate floor elevations are indicated using circled figures.