Suitability evaluation of underground space development in coal mining cities in Henan province

This study proposes to evaluate the suitability of underground space development and utilization in coal mining cities, with the aim to promote reasonable utilization of underground space left behind after the closure of coal mines and avoid resource waste. Specifically, it takes typical coal mining cities in Henan province(Zhengzhou, Pingdingshan, Sanmenxia, and Luoyang)with spatial resources exceeding 10000 m³ as examples for analysis, with the Analytic Hierarchy Process adopted to establish an evaluation system for the suitability of underground space development and utilization in coal mining cities. The evaluation system includes five major categories: safety factor, stability factor, spatial resource quantity, spatial environmental factor, and economic factor, coupled with 20 corresponding secondary indicators. Based on the aforementioned evaluation system and expert scoring method, the suitability for development of four typical coal mining cities in Henan province was ranked in a descending order of scores: Zhengzhou scored 25.59, Pingdingshan 23.21, Sanmenxia 8.86, and Luoyang 8.56. By conducting cross comparisons between cities, this study provides reference for the suitability evaluation of underground space in various coal mining cities both within Henan province and across the country.