Strip the City (2012)

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.