South Korea's Busan to get world's first floating city by 2025; to house 10,000 residents

The world will soon have its first floating city by 2025, as the UN-Habitat’s New Urban Agenda and New York-based Oceanix have collaborated to construct a sustainable floating community. This city will be built off the coast of South Korea’s Busan and will house 10,000 residents in an area spread across 75 hectares. Although the exact location of the city is unclear, it is estimated that the construction will cost around $200 million. 

The Habitats will withstand Category 5 hurricanes

The city, which has been approved for construction by the Busan Metropolitan City of the Republic of Korea, is being designed with every aspect of natural disaster in consideration. The habitats, which will be anchored to the ocean beds, will be built to withstand natural disasters such as floods and even category 5 hurricanes.

Maimunah Mohd Sharif, executive director of UN-Habitat was reported saying as per Daily Mail, ''Sustainable floating cities are a part of the arsenal of climate adaptation strategies available to us. Instead of fighting with water, let us learn to live in harmony with it. We look forward to developing climate adaptation and nature-based solutions through the floating city concept, and Busan is the ideal choice to deploy the prototype.''

Image: Oceanix

Meanwhile, authorities working on the construction are still deciding the cost of living in those habitats, who the residents will be and what will be the criteria for their selection. It has been known that the residents will initially have to survive on a plant-based diet to reduce the strain on resources like space, energy and water. Besides, facilities will be made to convert waste produced by the fish into fertilisers for plants, and aeroponic and aquaponic systems will be adopted to produce organic crops. Aeroponic is the method where plants are grown without the use of soil whereas aquaponic is the method involving bacteria to grow plants and raise fish. 

Image: Oceanix

While the size of the city is to be decided, the buildings will reportedly have less than seven storeys so that they are resistant to wind and maintain a low centre of gravity. According to Oceanix, it is planning to build a more resilient future as "unfettered coastal urbanisation is destroying millions of hectares of the ocean and marine life", and this problem is being compounded by the rising sea level and climate change. 

Image: Oceanix