John joined Maunsell, which was acquired by ArchTam twenty-years ago, in the U.K. in 1970 and worked on the design of a range of structures. In 1975, he moved to Hong Kong to prepare tender designs for underground packages for the Mass Transit Railway (MTR), which were all selected. John stayed in the city and grew ArchTam’s geotechnical business providing services for underground structures, reclamation, tunnels and slope stability.

With his extensive experience in the industry, John was recognized by the Institution of Civil Engineers in 2021 for the distinguished achievement of being a member of the association for 50 years. Currently, he is in Saudi Arabia as part of the team designing transport and utilities backbone infrastructure for NEOM – The Line, a project that aims to set a new model for smart cities emphasizing on technology and sustainability.

Tell us about what inspired you to join the industry. I worked on my PhD at Cambridge University in the U.K. and at the time, critical state soil mechanics and the now well-used Cam-Clay Model were being developed under the inspiring leadership of Ken Roscoe, Peter Wroth and Andrew Schofield. I became very interested in how the ground moves, how it interacts with structures and how to achieve cost-effective and safe designs for underground structures.

What is your favorite ArchTam project that you’ve worked on and why? I have been fortunate to work on many major projects throughout my career. My favorite is probably the site preparation for Chek Lap Kok International Airport at Hong Kong, where a 260-hectare island was flattened and 960 hectacres of adjacent reclamation was formed in 28 months. I was extremely proud of the teamwork that my colleagues exhibited on the project which was instrumental to its success.

Another pivotal project of my career was the tender designs for three underground railway stations and two tunnels in Hong Kong in 1975, which were all the lowest and below the engineer’s estimate. It sealed the start of the MTR, a major public transport network that serves 3.5 million passengers daily today.

Tell us a story of how your work positively impacted the community. I have been involved with the construction of more than 100 underground railway stations in busy cities across Asia. Millions of people now travel safely below ground and have convenient access to jobs, schools and other essential services, while the streets above are less congested.

In the 1970s, landslides in Hong Kong, with steep slopes and heavy rainfall, took the lives of more than 200 people. Subsequent stability studies and slope remedial work have dramatically reduced the incidents of slope failure, saving many lives and damage to property.

Share a piece of career advice. There are many aspects of engineering, from planning to design to construction. Regardless of your role, it is important to understand what other people do on a project and how your role fits with theirs. Engineers provide a service, and teamwork, with one another, with clients and with contractors, are all very important to delivering quality work.

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Working with nature to enhance urban and coastal resilience is a logical approach to counter the effects of climate change. Asia is rich in natural resources, but investments at large scale implementations have been relatively low.  Southeast Asia alone has 200 million hectares of terrestrial forests and is home to the world’s largest potential blue carbon stock – degraded coastal wetlands that (if restored) can sequester large amounts of carbon. 

Recently, I spoke on this topic at a seminar co-organized by ArchTam and the Singapore Economic Development Board, with panelists including Indranee Rajah, Minister in Singapore Prime Minister’s Office and Second Minister for Finance and National Development. From government authorities to local investors, city stakeholders all know that climate action is redefining the global economy – and we discussed the potential of nature-based solutions (NbS) in helping cities rise to the challenge.

To date, much of the focus has been on decarbonization efforts, but they won’t be enough to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. We need to think about complementary strategies such as carbon sequestration, and we also need to take steps to mitigate the effects of climate change. In both areas, NbS can play a big role. 

Investment needs to be unlocked in NbS to achieve its full potential. The bankability of NbS projects is not always immediately apparent, but a strong public-private partnership model can help with this by balancing and mitigating investment risks, alleviating concerns, providing investors some levels of assurance on their returns on investment, while bridging readily available capital to getting sustainable infrastructure projects off the ground.

Several Asian cities have already begun adopting this approach and some of the lessons learned in places such as Singapore, Shenzen and Hong Kong include:

• Singapore is among the first countries globally to set robust governance standards for carbon emissions. These include compatible definitions and taxonomies for NbS, and a consistent set of global standards for disclosures and reporting. If properly structured, investment in nature can be a new asset class which will drive capital to larger scale implementations.
• In Shenzhen, one of China’s early adopters of the “sponge city” concept, which aims to control and mitigate flooding, water pollution and scarcity, and home to the iconic Dasha River Ecological Corridor, the city utilizes techniques and green infrastructure retrofits such as permeable pavements, green rooftops, bioswales and constructed wetlands at a variety of scales to reduce the intensity of rainwater runoff, enhancing absorption capacities across the city.
• In Hong Kong, the award-winning design for the Tung Chung East Reclamation Eco-Shoreline created a new type of urban seaside, developed to add ecological value to waterfront reclamation infrastructure while simultaneously providing public open space and protecting against coastal storms and sea-level rise.

The lessons and proof points in these cities underline possibilities. If we can create the environment that unlock the value of NbS, we will have a good chance to create resilient urban ecosystems that help mitigate man-made climate change.

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