Kathmandu. Imagine a city where the streets are floating, houses are swaying, and as soon as you open the windows of your house, sea fish greet you with a wave of happiness.
This is not the story of a Hollywood movie. Busan, South Korea, is a proposed image of a city that is about to become a reality. It will be the world’s first floating city, Oceanix. Where there is no fear of losing land. Rather, it’s the ocean.
A few decades ago, when warnings of sea level rise were issued, it listed the dangers it posed to human settlements. People just dismissed it as a scientific crisis. But now that destruction is increasing in coastal areas, the world is recognizing it as a real problem.
Global warming and rising sea levels have taken the world by surprise. The United Nations statistics are alarming. More than 90 percent of the world’s coastal economies are on the brink of collapse. But humanity has not given up.
Oceanix City is shaping up to be a miracle off the coast of Busan, South Korea. This could prove to be a blueprint for future settlements.
In 2022, when UN Habitat and Oceanics unveiled a prototype of this floating city, people dismissed it as ‘science fiction’. But today, the city, which sits on the waves of Busan’s port, is screaming that the future is in the water.
What is the city of Oceanix?
It is the world’s first ‘floating smart city’. Don’t think of it as a science-fiction film. Because it has the support of UN Habitat.
Located just off the coast of Busan, the city will be built on three massive platforms. It covers a total of 15.5 acres. Its most important feature is modularity. This means that as the population grows, the city can be expanded by adding new platforms such as Lego blocks.
There are no high walls or huge dams. There you can see hexagonal islands floating on the surface of the sea. The city will be built on hexagon-shaped platforms floating above the water. The foundations of this city will not be built of stone or concrete. But it will be made from ‘Biorock’.
It is a magical material made from marine minerals. It is harder than iron and most importantly it can repair itself. This means that it does not weaken under the influence of water, but rather strengthens over time.
Divide the city into three parts
The project is designed to accommodate 12,000 people. The city will be divided into three parts. The first part will be a seating platform — where people will have a home and a community center; The second will be the seating platform – which will be for tourists and the third will be the research platform – where scientists will work on new marine technologies.
The residents will call themselves ‘aqua-citizens’. There will be no sound from the cars; People will travel by bicycle, electric scooter or small boats.
The biggest challenges to survival in this floating city are water and electricity. Oceanix has found a solution. There will be solar panels on every roof and window. It will generate its own electricity.
Instead of traditional farms, it will be aeroponics or wind farming. Fish farming will be done in large tanks under the road. It will produce fresh food in the city. Advanced plants will be set up to conserve rainwater and make seawater fresh. It will run entirely on solar energy.
But the biggest question is, can the waves sweep away the city or can the storms destroy it? The answer is that special preparations have been made in its construction to protect it from the waves. It will be connected to the shore by a bridge but will have the ability to rise and fall with the waves.
However, engineers claim that Oceanix can withstand even a Category 5 storm. Its platforms are flexible, moving up and down with the waves. Even if old coastal cities are flooded, Oceanix will float in the water and save itself.
Oceanix Busan is proof that the conflict between technology and nature is not inevitable. Instead of treating the sea as our enemy, we can make it our new home. Not only Korea, but Maldives and New York are also in the race. –Agency
