ABSTRACT
The 'underground' has largely been ignored in most accounts of urban development and contemporary urban studies. Complex lattices of water, waste, electricity, gas and telecommunications underpin all aspects of modem urban l ife but these networked services are too often taken for granted as it is assumed that they will be simply made available to meet new and rising levels of demand (Bishop et al 1 980, Cowie et al 1 984 ) . Despite this context the relationship between cities and infrastructure is emerging as a key policy issue (Guy et al 1 997, Vickerman 1 99 1 ) . An important symbol of the enhanced visibil ity and exposure of urban infrastructure networks is the 'hole in the road' . The new demands for urban space are at their most acute at the boundary between the congested road surface and the overcrowded space beneath the carriageway.
