For many years, architects and engineers have debated the possibility of creating such a revolutionary city, but bringing these visions to fruition has proven challenging due to local governments’ reluctance to give their approval to such large-scale undertakings.
A major step forward was achieved, when the South Korean city of Busan, in partnership with the project’s designer, OCEANIX, and the United Nations Human Settlements Programme, approved the establishment of such a city (UN-Habitat).
According to reports, it has been projected that the city will be 75 square kilometers in size, with an estimated population of 10,000 people. It will be made up of several hexagonal islands. Each two-hectare area houses 300 families in a community of their own.
Local communities of up to 1,650 people will be placed together in clusters of six neighborhoods centered on a protected central harbor.
[Read: It’s More Likely To Rain On You In A Circular City Than A Square Or Triangular One]
Even though the city ‘is designed to develop, transform, and adapt organically over time, growing from neighborhoods to villages to cities with the prospect of scaling,’ the design and future expansion plans have not been finalized at this stage time.
The concept is that the city will elevate with the waves and thus be flood-proof, even while providing its power, fresh water, and food, with cages beneath the islands used to hold seafood and allowing it to be self-sufficient.
OCEANIX will now collaborate with local designers to create a city tailored to the needs of the surrounding community, with the outcomes to be presented at a United Nations roundtable in April.
It is estimated that the cost will be $200 million (£149 million).
Moreover, OCEANIX is presently in discussions with ten other governments regarding the possibility of establishing floating cities, which the company claims might provide an ideal living option in coastal locations endangered by rising sea levels.
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