BUSAN, SOUTH KOREA — The U.N.
Recently signed a deal with the Korean port city of Busan to build the world’s first floating city on Busan’s coastline.
Here are the details: Business Insider reports that a historic deal was signed on Thursday, November 18 to build the world’s first ever floating city on the coast of South Korea.
The South Korean city of Busan agreed to host such a floating city with the backing of the UN Human Settlement Program and Oceanix, the company that designed the floating city.
Like many coastal cities, Busan is threatened by rising sea levels, and the floating city is designed to help such cities to expand onto the sea.
The city will be based on a collection of hexagonal platforms that float on the water.
These platforms will be strengthened by a limestone coating that’s more than twice as hard as concrete while also being buoyant.
The city is designed to survive Category 5 hurricanes.
It would also be flood proof as it is designed to rise with the sea.
The floating city would produce its own food, energy and freshwater.
Cages underneath the platforms could be used to house scallops, kelp or other forms of seafood, while aquaponic systems could use waste from fish to fertilize plants.
The next step will be for Oceanix and the UN to work with Busan’s officials to fine-tune the final design of the floating habitat.
Oceanix says the whole process would take a total of three years, so it expects to see the prototype in the water by 2025.