I’ve been noticing the topic of floating cities come up more and more across the web lately. Is it a serious idea for future city planners or just a masturbatory exercise as suggested by one commenter. The idea I suppose is that our cities are becoming more and more saturated, dirty and broken with many in such a state of disrepair that it may indeed be time to think about just starting over.
Floating cities certainly are thinking outside the box but a few immediate needs are met with this concept. If structures can be built where they can be battened down to withstand a serious ocean storm then the amount of space available skyrockets. As we all know water makes up the large majority of our planet. One constant key when exploring these types of ideas is that the overall concept may be a little far reaching, at least at the present time, actionable concepts can arise. Just a few off the top of my head are off-shore wind power, vertical farming, tidal power and the use of grey water.
When we speak of planning brand new cities, building the city as a unique, stand alone structure (as in the case of the new project Masdar) we are at least getting to the idea of the city as a defined space, a living and breathing entity unto itself. I believe this to be a key concept for future city planning. Island cities – such as those created out of old oil rigs move us in that direction. There are an estimated twenty seven thousand abandoned rigs already just in the Gulf of Mexico. Designers are already considering how to use these structures as small cities.
Of course the cost in today dollars for fabricating such an elaborate water system may be too steep. Just the concepts of closing the city of to an empending storm make the project something for the future and not something that we should be building today. But things change. Constructions materials are being rafted out of lighter components, stronger systems are being developped and improved building techniques are being thought up every day. Who knows what lies in our future? I find these water city proposals both facinating and productive. They are not simply a waste of creative talent but somethign we may benefit from down the road.
