Utility tunnels are an important part of smart cities. This research focuses on the application of wireless sensors networks (WSNs) in utility tunnels. The utility tunnel space and Chinese utility tunnel building standard are considered in the design process. An adaptive subunit clustering multi-hop protocol (ASCMP) is proposed. In this protocol, some improvements are applied to increase the WSN's performance, such as cluster head (CH) election, network transmission, and node energy setting. Finally, ASCMP is compared with three other classic WSNs, namely, LEACH, SEP, and M-LEACH. Simulation results demonstrate that ASCMP's data transfer rate and lifetime increase by 71.76% and 200%, respectively, as shown by MATLAB 2012a simulations. INDEX TERMS Wireless sensor networks, multi-hop, routing protocol, information forwarding, utility tunnel, computer simulation.