With more than seven million people squeezed in to around 1,100sq km of land space—and property prices regularly ranking among the highest in the world, Hong Kong realizes it needs to get inventive if the city wants to attract more big IT business. The answer: cavernous underground data centers that remain naturally cool.
As The Register points out, data centers in Norway and Kansas City have already made it happen. The land and the area underneath the land, could be purchased from whoever owns the above-ground area. The natural coolness of a cave could even help keep the data centers from overheating. The government has already selected five areas, with 20 hectares of land each, that might work for the data centers.
But there’s still some issues to get past. Toxic materials would have to be removed from the site before construction, and fresh air would need to be somehow allowed in. Even the director of the engineering consultancy firm involved with the project, Arup, says they’re a few years behind digging in and actually making this plan a reality.
Read more about the project here.