Strip the City
Stripping major cities naked of their steel, concrete, buildings, roads, rivers and bedrock - layer by layer - to explore the secret technology and infrastructure that keeps them running. What stops Dubai's super tall skyscrapers - balanced on unstable sand - from toppling over? How can San Francisco survive - sitting on the edge of a major earthquake fault? And how did the ancient Romans build a city of a million people without modern technology? This series explores these and other mysteries, by peeling the glass off buildings, rolling back the tarmac on roads and sucking the water out of rivers to expose the hidden infrastructure beneath six major cities: London, Rome, Dubai, Sydney, Toronto and San Francisco. As we explore what lies beneath each metropolis we come face to face with the people who are instrumental in keeping these city alive and well - the engineers building and looking after the city's infrastructure. These characters are larger than life - with a huge passion and energy for what they do. We explore how engineers in London are updating its huge underground Metro network, how workers in San Francisco are building earthquake proof skyscrapers and bridges, and how buildings in Dubai can weather sandstorms and survive in the searing desert heat. Stunning CGI animation strips back the walls of buildings, sucks up expanses of ocean to expose sunken cities, and slices away slabs of rock to reveal the workings of volcanoes close-up. As we peel back the layers, we'll reveal an alien landscape of underground volcanoes, hidden rivers, subterranean cliffs, fragile fault lines, and ancient catacombs - geological wonders that play a surprising role shaping the cities and lives of the people above. This series reveals a world never seen before - an alien geological universe normally hidden under tarmac and concrete...a landscape of unprecedented wonder, turbulence and scale. Desert City: Dubai The city's leading engineers and geologists reveal the secrets hidden inside Dubai's buildings that keep them standing. Earthquake City: San Francisco The engineers and geologists reveal the secrets inside San Francisco's skyscrapers that keep them standing Harbour City: Sydney How did Sydney come to thrive in such an inhospitable place? This film looks beneath the city's skin to discover the secret engineering wonders that make it possible. Ice City: Toronto How did this metropolis grow to become the largest city in Canada in such an extreme environment? This film looks beneath the city's skin to discover the secret engineering wonders and geological forces that make it possible. Underground City: London We lift up Buckingham Palace to reveal a 'lost' river and show the innovative engineering behind the city's brand new port under construction. Ancient City: Rome We descend into a cavern of tunnels that runs under most of Rome, abseil into an ancient aqueduct and explore how Rome's new Metro is being built.
- 2012-2014
- 2 seasons
- Science Channel
- Documentary
- TV-PG
Stripping major cities naked of their steel, concrete, buildings, roads, rivers and bedrock - layer by layer - to explore the secret technology and infrastructure that keeps them running. What stops Dubai's super tall skyscrapers - balanced on unstable sand - from toppling over? How can San Francisco survive - sitting on the edge of a major earthquake fault? And how did the ancient Romans build a city of a million people without modern technology? This series explores these and other mysteries, by peeling the glass off buildings, rolling back the tarmac on roads and sucking the water out of rivers to expose the hidden infrastructure beneath six major cities: London, Rome, Dubai, Sydney, Toronto and San Francisco. As we explore what lies beneath each metropolis we come face to face with the people who are instrumental in keeping these city alive and well - the engineers building and looking after the city's infrastructure. These characters are larger than life - with a huge passion and energy for what they do. We explore how engineers in London are updating its huge underground Metro network, how workers in San Francisco are building earthquake proof skyscrapers and bridges, and how buildings in Dubai can weather sandstorms and survive in the searing desert heat. Stunning CGI animation strips back the walls of buildings, sucks up expanses of ocean to expose sunken cities, and slices away slabs of rock to reveal the workings of volcanoes close-up. As we peel back the layers, we'll reveal an alien landscape of underground volcanoes, hidden rivers, subterranean cliffs, fragile fault lines, and ancient catacombs - geological wonders that play a surprising role shaping the cities and lives of the people above. This series reveals a world never seen before - an alien geological universe normally hidden under tarmac and concrete...a landscape of unprecedented wonder, turbulence and scale. Desert City: Dubai The city's leading engineers and geologists reveal the secrets hidden inside Dubai's buildings that keep them standing. Earthquake City: San Francisco The engineers and geologists reveal the secrets inside San Francisco's skyscrapers that keep them standing Harbour City: Sydney How did Sydney come to thrive in such an inhospitable place? This film looks beneath the city's skin to discover the secret engineering wonders that make it possible. Ice City: Toronto How did this metropolis grow to become the largest city in Canada in such an extreme environment? This film looks beneath the city's skin to discover the secret engineering wonders and geological forces that make it possible. Underground City: London We lift up Buckingham Palace to reveal a 'lost' river and show the innovative engineering behind the city's brand new port under construction. Ancient City: Rome We descend into a cavern of tunnels that runs under most of Rome, abseil into an ancient aqueduct and explore how Rome's new Metro is being built.
Season 1 Episode Guide
6 Episodes 2012
Episode 1
Ancient City: Rome
Ancient Rome is the prototype of all modern cities. 2,000 years ago it was the biggest in the world - home to a million people. It has survived better than any ancient city on earth. How have its geological foundations both helped and hindered the city's longevity and growth?
Episode 2
Earthquake City: San Francisco
San Francisco is standing on the brink of disaster - it sits on one of the world's most infamous earthquake hotspots - the San Andreas Fault. How does the city's buildings and infrastructure survive the onslaught of a destructive earthquake? This film looks beneath the city's skin to discover the engineering wonders and geological forces that make it possible. Stunning CGI animation peels back the glass off its skyscrapers and steel off its bridges to reveal their inner workings.
Episode 3
Desert City: Dubai
Dubai is a gleaming metropolis, grown from the desert sands in just a few decades - yet it sits in one of the driest places on Earth, is pummelled by raging sandstorms, and its skyscrapers are resting on top of sand. This episode looks beneath the city's skin to discover what keeps Dubai's buildings standing, protects them from desert storms, and keeps residents alive in the searing heat.
Episode 4
Harbour City: Sydney
Tue, Feb 12, 2013
Sydney is home to a fifth Australia's entire population and is trapped between the Blue Mountains and the ocean, sitting on the driest inhabited continent on Earth, and surrounding one the planet's largest natural harbours. This episode uncovers what is inside Sydney's buildings and beneath its streets that allow the city to function - from the concealed contours of the harbour that allow super-sized ships to sail into the heart of the city, to the underground caverns that store its water.
Episode 5
Ice City: Toronto
Perched on the shores of Lake Ontario, Toronto is a city of extremes. This sprawling metropolis was carved out by ancient glaciers. Today it is filled with a concrete jungle of towering skyscrapers. Each winter temperatures plummet to an arctic minus 40 degrees and the city is pummelled by savage snowstorms. How did this metropolis grow to become the largest city in Canada in such an extreme environment? This film explores the geology that shaped the city's past and challenges its future, from the rich salt reserves that power its industry to the colossal falls that fuel the expanding mega-city.
Episode 6
Underground City: London
Beneath the streets of London, lies a parallel universe. As its buildings soar higher, so its tunnels go deeper. London has more infrastructures built underground than any city in the world. They hold the key the city's success. A fascinating insight into the inner workings of the city of London, including the lost river under Buckingham Place and building methods of Europe's tallest skyscraper - the Shard. CGI animation strips away the ground to reveal the city's inner workings and explores the ingenious technologies that helped engineers to build one of the biggest cities on Earth.