The United Nations-supported floating city project, Oceanix City, is planned to be implemented on the coast of South Korea in 2025.
The calendars showed the 8th century BC when Homer dreamed of a floating city in the Odyssey. About seven hundred years later, another floating island-city dream was put forward by Pliny the Elder. Centuries later, the desire of human beings to live on the seas continued, and Richard Head’s novel The Floating Island, written in 1673, told its readers about a fictional island on its own. As always, we see that many things that exist in real life today were dreamed up in literature centuries ago and took place in works from mythology to modern literature. The floating city, which was first proposed by Homer about 13 centuries ago, is planned to be brought to life on the coast of South Korea in 2025.
This floating city project, supported by the United Nations, will be built in Busan, South Korea as part of the fight against the climate crisis. The biggest factor in the design of this floating city is the rise in sea levels due to the climate change. According to a study published in October by the non-profit climate research organization Climate Central, 50 major cities, mostly in Asia, are in danger of extinction due to unexpected increases in sea levels. Like many coastal cities, Busan is also in danger. The founding head of the project, Itai Madamombe, said in an interview with Insider that Busan is the best place to build this prototype. Madamombe also expressed that they hope this project is a useful start for all coastal cities that are in danger of extinction.
This floating city project, called Oceanix City, consists of a group of hexagonal platform islands each. The hexagonal shape is preferred because it enables both space and material savings. Limestone, which is two or three times harder than concrete, but floats, is used as the main material. As limestone comes into contact with water, it renews itself and becomes more durable. Another important aspect of the floating city is its sustainability. It is possible to grow food in the city that produces its own clean water, as well as the city will be able to produce its own energy. For example, cages under the platforms can be used for a variety of seafood such as escallops and seaweed. The fertilizers of the creatures in this water system will be used for growing plants. The estimated cost of the city, which is planned to have 10 thousand people, is 200 million dollars.
With the high rise in sea levels, nine out of ten major coastal cities may disappear until 2050. With the climate crisis, the concept of sustainability becomes more and more involved in our lives, and it seems that there will be a change in the concept of cities. Although the city in Busan is the first example, building the houses of the future on floating cities does not seem far-fetched.
