The dream of world’s first floating city seems to be in the making as UN officials announce to make the project a reality under the world body’s project within a span of a decade.
The idea was floated by non-profit organisation, Oceanix, last year in response to the potentially devastating impact of climate change and to combat overcrowding and poor living conditions.
During a panel discussion at the World Urban Forum in Abu Dhabi, global experts said floating cities were a viable answer to upcoming challenges.
Under the UN project, the revolutionary project would see self-sufficient buoyant platforms anchored to the sea bed upon which houses can be built.
The city would produce its own power and heat using renewable sources such as sunlight, wind and waves. Water would be harvested from rain generation and vapour distillation technologies.
Deputy Executive Director of UN-Habitat, a programme for human settlements and sustainable urban development, Victor Kisob said during the global event that floating cities sound like a crazy idea but they could lead to all sorts of possibilities if done in the right way.
“In 2019, the United Nations pushed forward a discussion on this topic and we are keen to come up with real solutions for these cities.”
“The next step would be to design a prototype with partners from the private sector that could be tried and tested.”
Kisob said establishing a “brain trust” to increase knowledge on the science that would guide such an initiative was crucial.
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About 90 per cent of the world’s largest global cities are vulnerable to rising sea levels.
As a result, the vast majority of these will be affected by erosion and flooding in the future.
To reduce the threat of human displacement and permanent infrastructure damage, Kisob said there is a need to create more “resilient and sustainable cities”.
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