Abstract
The Maldives has revealed plans to create the world’s first true floating island city
Simply called Maldives Floating City, the development will include 5,000 low-rise floating homes, all located within a 200-hectare lagoon in the Indian Ocean. As sea levels rise, so too will the city, which will be built upon a series of hexagonal-shaped floating structures.
In the Maldives, 80 per cent of the country sits less than one metre above sea level. And with the islands predicted to be un-in-habitable by the end of the 21st
century due to rising sea levels, the government of the Maldives hopes to offer locals and foreigners the opportunity to move to the floating city as early as 2024.
Located just a 10 minute boat trip from the country's capital Male, the brain-shaped floating city will create homes for as many as 20,000 people.
The IPCC's Sixth Assessment Report 2022, states that small island nations such as the Maldives may become completely uninhabitable as the world is on track to warm by two to three degrees this century.
Sustainable solutions for urban development into the ocean as listed in the report include building houses on stilts, and creating "amphibious architecture" that can float on the surface of rising floodwater.
Construction on the development is planned to begin later this year.
