World's First Floating City 'Busan' Could Be Completed By 2025 To Avoid Rising Sea Levels

Highlights

The city is backed by the United Nations and will be made off the coast of Busan to deal with the rising sea level problem

According to people leading the project, it will be a 'flood-proof infrastructure' made up of several man-made islands that will work towards terminating the risk of flooding by rising with the sea.

The world's first floating city will be built off the coast of South Korea and is likely to be completed as early as 2025.

The city is backed by the United Nations and will be made off the coast of Busan to deal with the rising sea level problem. According to people leading the project, it will be a 'flood-proof infrastructure' made up of several man-made islands that will work towards terminating the risk of flooding by rising with the sea.

The self-sufficient city, which is a joint effort by OCEANIX and the UN Human Settlement Programme (UN-Habit), will generate its own electricity from solar panels, produce its own food and fresh water, and also ferry tourists and inhabitants between the island on specially-made boats, according to a Mail Online report.

Other reports also claimed that the city will be spread over 75 hectares and will accommodate 10,000 residents. The neighbourhoods will be segregated into clusters of six around a protected central harbour. Each village could house up to 1,650 residents.

The city will be specifically designed to withstand natural disasters like floods, tsunamis, and Category 5 hurricanes. It will also be designed to grow, transform and adapt naturally over the course of time. 

Construction is estimated to cost around $200 million and will begin soon. Busan Metropolitan City of the Republic of Korea, UN-Habitat, and New York designers OCEANIX have already signed the 'historic agreement'.

"It just happened that Busan is the best place for us to deploy this prototype. But this is something that we hope will be useful to all coastal cities around the world, and all coastal communities who are facing the challenge of sea-level rise," Itai Madamombe, co-founder of OCEANIX, told Business Insider.

OCEANIX will collaborate with local designers to understand the needs of the local area. The results of the work will be presented at a UN roundtable in April, added the reports.

"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," said Maimunah Mohd Sharif, executive director of UN-Habitat.