UN-backed project Oceanix has gotten the green light to build its first prototype floating city in Busan, South Korea, which is planned to host 12,000 people on a total area of 6.3 hectares.
Oceanix is a project to design and build floating cities and city districts to extend available living space for coastal establishments into the sea. The idea comes in response to rising sea levels and urban congestion problems that create dense high-rise buildings, air pollution, noise, and renting cost crises. Busan, in particular, is the second-largest city in South Korea, with 3,400,000 residents. Its maritime importance and continued growth are expected to create sustainability problems, so it’s an ideal testbed for Oceanix.
The Busan prototype will use three platforms, with the potential to expand to up to twenty in the future, serving a specific purpose each, namely permanent living, research, and visitor lodging. These platforms feature five levels each and reach heights of up to 20 meters.
The living platform has a strong focus on gardening areas to reduce food supply dependence. The research platform will grow food on a large production scale, using hydroponic towers that are protected from Busan’s cold winter. Arrays of rooftop and floating photovoltaic panels will generate all energy needed for the prototype city, while the water system will also be closed, having no dependence from outside. Finally, the lodging platform focuses more on waterfront views, offering majestic guestrooms, communal terraces, greenhouses, and dining options.
While all that sounds like a utopian dream, it will enter its first phase of development in 2025 and is scheduled for completion by 2030. The prototype’s motto is “The First to the Future”, so if it works as planned, Oceanix and UN-Habitat will push the project more aggressively to many more locations around the world.
