Jun 22, 2022
The world’s first floating city is being built. The city is taking shape in the Indian Ocean in the Maldives. It's a response to rising sea levels.
The first living units at Maldives Floating City (MFC) are to be shown this month. The island is 494 acres. It will be filled with homes, parks, businesses, and offices. By 2024, the first of 20,000 residents are expected to move into the homes. They cost between $150,000 to $250,000. The city is in a lagoon near the Maldives' capital. It will be finished in 2027.
Planners see floating cities as an answer to climate change, which threatens to flood coastlines and swallow islands around the world. A similar project is backed by the United Nations. It's set to begin construction off the coast of South Korea next year. That floating city, known as “Oceanix Busan,” is planned for 12,000 residents.
Climatologists say rising sea levels could wipe out the 1,192 low-lying islands of the Maldives. Nearly 600,000 people live on 187 of them.
Dutch Docklands is a Netherlands-based company that has been working on the project with the Maldives government for more than a decade. The city will rely on solar power for most of its electricity. Onsite sewage treatment will provide fertilizer for plants. Buildings will be cooled with the help of deep ocean water pumped into the lagoon instead of air conditioning.
The CEO of Dutch Docklands said, “This will be an amazing place where locals and foreigners can buy their dream property at affordable prices.”
Photo from Waterstudio.NL/Dutch Docklands.
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