World Monitor Magazine, Economy WM_April 2019 web version (2) | Page 52

TECHNOLOGY
WATER WORLD
In the 21st century, Jules Verne wrote a fantastical novel about the floating city,
and nowadays such projects are about to become a reality.
Draw water
Free floating cities in neutral waters are not a fantasy, but
a completely feasible project, according to the ideology of
seasteading, inspired by the example of Sealand. In 2001,
libertarians Patri Friedman and Wayne Gramlik developed this
idea in a collective monograph, and in 2008 they founded a
non-profit organization of systematization in San Francisco.
Seasteaders hope to create a new type of state formed on
an existence of self-sufficiency outside the jurisdiction of all
countries of the world and are already developing several
projects. Thus, by 2022 Blue Frontiers, a company founded by the
institute, plans to build a pilot Floating Island. The experimental
design of 300 houses is intended to be placed in the territorial
waters of the islands of the French Polynesia on autonomy from
France - just in case, closer to land and in a safe harbor. The
project even has its own crypto currency - varion. At the same
time, many designers and architects around the world offer their
detailed designs of man-made cities on water that can exist
autonomously.
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Under the water there are hotels and entertainment centres.
The city has significant greenery, including in underwater
zones.
Separate ‘islands’ are interconnected by underwater tunnels.
The finished polygon modules are delivered by water and
integrated into the overall structure.
The main transport is yachts and civilian submarines; car
exhaust does not pollute the air.
Food is grown on vertical farms and fish nurseries, while
hydrogenerators provide the city with energy, and waste is
recycled.
Land occupies only 29% of the earth's surface, and
megalopolises on water in the future may help solve the problem
of overpopulation.
The project ‘Floating City’ was developed by the British firm At
Design Office byrequest of the Chinese company CCCC.