The isolated Indian Ocean archipelago of the Maldives is constructing the first floating metropolis in history, with a design inspired by a coral reef that resembles the human brain.
The world’s lowest-lying country, which is located about 500 miles from India, the closest continental land mass, aspires to have found a long-term answer to the harsh reality of increasing sea levels.
The Maldives Floating City has been given the all-clear to build 5,000 colorful housing units that will be joined together and tied to the floor of a 500-acre lagoon with a little assistance from the sea level-fighting Dutch.
From the international airport and the country’s capital, Malé, visitors to the new floating metropolis will need to take a ten-minute boat journey. There, they will discover hotels, homes, stores, and restaurants.
Since there won’t be any automobiles, people will travel on foot, bicycles, electric buggies, scooters, or boats to navigate the white sand roads and canals.
The canals will serve as the primary transportation routes for logistics and the entry points for boats and ships into the city.
According to the project website, the layout of the city was inspired by “a nature-based network of roadways and water canals reflecting the beautiful and effective way in which real brain coral is organized.”
The floating metropolis is designed to protect and improve the natural environment of the Maldives, which are made up of 1,192 coral islands connected by a double chain of 26 atolls.
According to the idea, the city would safeguard existing coral reefs, which will also serve as a natural wave barrier, and encourage coral growth by attaching artificial coral banks to its underside.
They have a long history of being seafarers and have a special bond with coral because it is the material on which they sleep and walk.
The Maldives Floating City is based on the idea that they should “return to the water” in order to “learn to live with nature and improve and respect natural coral.”
If they buy a home, non-residents who want to live in the city can apply for a residency permit.
Following the construction and delivery of the first modular dwelling block to the lagoon in August, public viewings will be offered.
Other floating city proposals have also been put forth.
The city will be supported by the steady hand of Dutch engineering thanks to a partnership between the Maldives government and the business Dutch Docklands to introduce floating technologies pioneered in the Netherlands, including the floating neighborhood of Waterbuurt.
In order to prevent their lands from being submerged beneath water, the Low Countries nation has been using dykes and levies to keep the North Sea at bay for generations.
The islands were particularly hard struck by the travel limitations imposed by the Covid epidemic since they mainly rely on tourists coming to explore their lush paradise surroundings.
However, with 1.3 million travelers arriving in 2018, tourism numbers were almost back to pre-pandemic levels, down from 1.7 million in 2019.
One of the nations most at risk from the effects of climate change is the Maldives.
Authorities in the Maldives predicted that by 2018, the islands would be totally engulfed by rising sea levels.
Even though it never happened, it shows how seriously the archipelago nation views the immediate threat to its very existence.
The city will be constructed in a modular manner, with work set to begin in January 2023 and completion anticipated in five years.