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A floating city is set to rise off the coast of the Maldives as a solution to sea-level rise

By Nathaniel Bahadursingh
Archinect
2022.June.23

Image: Waterstudio
Image: Waterstudio

A city is rising from the waters of the Indian Ocean. In a turquoise lagoon, just 10 minutes by boat from Male, the Maldivian capital, a floating city, big enough to house 20,000 people, is being constructed. — CNN

Called the Maldives Floating City, the first-of-its-kind development is a joint venture between property developer Dutch Docklands and the Government of the Maldives. Netherlands-based architecture firm Waterstudio, which focuses on large-scale, sustainable floating projects, is the architecture firm behind the project’s design. Taking the shape of a brain coral, the city is structured as a traditional boating community, with a network of canals that will serve as the main infrastructure for logistics and gateways. It will consist of 5,000 floating units, along with houses, restaurants, shops, and schools.

Previously on Archinect: Updated design emerges for BIG’s floating city in Busan, South Korea for OCEANIX

The city was conceived as a practical solution to sea-level rise in one of the world’s most vulnerable nations to climate change. Its modular units are constructed in a local shipyard and towed to the city when complete. They are then attached to a large underwater concrete hull, which is screwed to the seabed on telescopic steel stilts. In addition, artificial coral banks made from glass foam will be connected to the underside of the city in order to stimulate natural coral growth. Solar power, local sewage treatment and repurposing, and deep water sea cooling are among the sustainable features that will allow the city to be self-sufficient. The first units at Maldives Floating City will be unveiled this month, with residents set to arrive in early 2024. The entire city is due to be completed by 2027.

click here for source website

Epic layout photos showcase the vision for a floating water city in Maldives

By Scott Gleeson
Usa Today
2022.June.22

A Dutch architectural firm is poised to build an innovative floating city in the Maldives, a Southern Asia nation of islands located in the Indian Ocean.

The city, designed by Dutch firm Waterstudio, is slated to house 20,000 people in a web of 5,000 floating buildings, all of which will include homes, shops and even schools, according to the official website for Maldives Floating City. They’ll all be interspersed as a mass of modular floating platforms in the pattern of a brain coral.

The floating city will be located just 10 minutes by boat from Male, the capital of the Maldives. The project is headed by Waterstudio in collaboration with developer Dutch Docklands and the local government in Male. Koen Olthuis told CNN the city will feature studio apartments for $150,000 and family units for $250,000.

Utopian desert city Telosa: Billionaire Marc Lore outlines how he will build the inclusive city

“With its unique location in a paradisiacal setting, we are extremely proud to launch the first Floating City in the world,” said Paul HTM van de Camp, CEO of Dutch Docklands, in a news release. “This will be an amazing place where locals and foreigners can buy their dream property at affordable prices”

The designs of the floating city are aimed to offer a solution to the threat of rising sea levels for generations ahead, Maldives president Mohamed Nasheed said in a news release.

“This Maldives Floating City does not require any land reclamation, therefore has a minimal impact on the coral reefs. What’s more: giant, new reefs will be grown to act as water breakers. Our adaption to climate change mustn’t destroy nature but work with it, as the Maldives Floating City proposes. In the Maldives we cannot stop the waves, but we can rise with them.”

Below is a look at some of the epic images, provided to USA TODAY by Waterstudio.

An exterior look of the floating water city slated to be built in Maldives.
An exterior look of the floating water city slated to be built in Maldives.
WATERSTUDIO/DUTCH DOCKLANDS MALDIVES
An interior look at designs for the floating water city in Maldives.
An interior look at designs for the floating water city in Maldives.
WATERSTUDIO/DUTCH DOCKLANDS (MALDIVES)
A look at the town of a floating water city in Maldives.
A look at the town of a floating water city in Maldives.
WATERSTUDIO/DUTCH DOCKLANDS (MALDIVES)
The floating water city of Maldives up close.
The floating water city of Maldives up close.
WATERSTUDIO/DUTCH DOCKLANDS (MALDIVES)

A floating city is being built in the Maldives. It comprises a web of residences, shops, and schools that will one day be home to 20,000 people.

By Cheryl Teh
Business Insider
2022.June.22

An aerial mockup of the Maldives Floating City
The Maldives Floating City is slated for completion in 2027, and is projected to house 20,000 people in 5,000 floating, modular units. 
Waterstudio.NL/Dutch Docklands
  • A Dutch developer is building a sprawling, floating city in the Maldives.
  • The city is slated to house 20,000 people in a web of 5,000 floating buildings.
  • These buildings will include homes, shops, and even schools — all located 10 minutes away from Male.

A Dutch architectural firm is on a mission to create a floating city located just 10 minutes away from Male.

The Maldives Floating City, designed by Dutch firm Waterstudio, is an expansive mass of modular floating platforms in the pattern of a brain coral.

Koen Olthuis, the founder of Waterstudio, the architectural firm behind the city, told Insider that the project is a collaboration between the Dutch Docklands, a local developer, and the local government in Male. One of its aims is to free up more room for housing on the mainland.

Olthuis told Insider that building the floating city would also offer a solution to the threat of rising sea levels for generations to come.

“It will be a walkable city with floating streets, utilizing boats for the transport of goods and people within the city, and to the capital city of Male,” Olthuis said.

 

He added that the cost of living in the city itself would be comparable to local land-based developments in the Maldives.

“In 2027, we should have 20,000 people living in 5,000 houses,” Olthius estimated.

A mock-up image of the Maldives Floating City
A virtual mock-up of the Maldives Floating City shows azure seas with boats used for transporting residents from module to module, and to the mainland. 
Waterstudio.NL/Dutch Docklands

According to CNN, the city will be opening up its first units for viewing this month, with prices starting at $150,000 for a studio apartment, and going up to $250,000 for a family home. The developers expect residents to begin moving into the island in early 2024, with the whole city due to be completed by 2027.

Per the developer’s press release, the city will comprise modular, hexagonal segments connected to an outer ring of barrier islands. The bottom portion of the city will be attached to stabilizers that buttress it against the waves while also keeping the buildings and structures safe against the current.

Click here for source website

Click here for the project

Maldiividele plaanitakse ehitada ujuv linn kaitseks maailmamere tõusu eest

By Postimees
2022.June.21

Maldiividele plaanitakse ehitada ujuv linn kaitseks maailmamere tõusu eest
Linn hakkab asuma ligi viiel tuhandel väikesel ujuvsaarel.
Linn hakkab asuma ligi viiel tuhandel väikesel ujuvsaarel.Foto: Maldives Floating City / Waterstudio

India ookeani saareriik Maldiivid asub vaid mõni meeter üle merepinna ning maailmamere tõus kliimasoojenemise tagajärjel ähvardab need saared kiiresti vee alla jätta. Selle vastu pakub lahenduse Hollandi disainifirma, mis ehitab ujuvaid linnasid.

Ujuvad saared pole iseenesest midagi uut, neid leidub nii Aasias kui Lõuna-Ameerikas ja neid on kasutanud elamiseks pärismaalased aastatuhandeid. Kinnisvaraarendajatele on ka juba pikka aega tundunud ujuvad saared väga ahvatlevad, sest maapinda ju pole vaja ning tagatud on vaade veekogule. Kuid selliste eluruumide muutmine moodsaks kinnisvaraks on alati olnud keeruline.

Ujuva elukoha pakub välja Hollandi disainistuudio Waterstudio koostöös Hollandis asuva Dutch Docklandsi ja Maldiivide valitsusega, et ehitada üleujutusohus Maldiividele selline linn, mis kunagi vee alla ei jää. See hakkab kerkima koos merevee tasemega. Praegu on Maldiividel 80% protsenti riigist vähem kui meetri kõrgusel merepinnast ja kui maailmamere tase peaks saja aasta jooksul meetri jagu tõusma, jääks enamus riigist vee alla.

Ujuv linn saab värvikirev, kesksel kohal on muidugi vesi ja veeteed.
Ujuv linn saab värvikirev, kesksel kohal on muidugi vesi ja veeteed.Foto: Maldives Floating City / Waterstudio

Firma on ujuvaid maju disaininud isegi Läänemere äärde ja ehitanud Madalmaadesse mitmeid ujuvaid saari. Maldiivide projekt on siiski ambitsioonikam – laiendatav ala peab mahutama väikese linna jagu elamispindu ning kuna tegemist on ookeaniga, siis peaks see vastu pidama ka suuremale lainetusele ja tuultele.

Ujuv asula hakkab asuma soojaveelises laguunis korallrahude vahel kümneminutilise paadisõidu kaugusel Maldiivide pealinnast Malest ning Male rahvusvahelisest lennujaamast. Esimene omataoline «saarelinn» pakub revolutsioonilist lähenemist säästvale eluviisile taevasinise India ookeani taustal. Futuristlik unistuste maastik hakkab hõljuma paindlikul ja funktsionaalsel «võrgul» üle 200 hektari suurusel alal.

Ujuvasse linna on planeeritud elamispinnad kümnele tuhandele elanikule, majad asuvad ligi viiel tuhandel alusel, millele tulevad lisaks majadele veel ka restoranid, koolid ja kauplused. Moodulite vahel on kanalid ja sillad, et saaks nii paadiga kui jala liikuda.

Esimesed elanikud kolivad ookeanil hulpivasse linna sisse 2024. aastal ja kõik saab valmis 2027. aastaks.

Elemendid, millest saar ehitatakse, hakkavad paiknema korallimustrit meenutavalt. Korallid kaitsevad linna ookeanilainete eest.
Elemendid, millest saar ehitatakse, hakkavad paiknema korallimustrit meenutavalt. Korallid kaitsevad linna ookeanilainete eest.Foto: Maldives Floating City

Kuigi ujuv kinnisvara võib tunduda pigem vallasvarana või laeva või pargasena, mida saab ühest kohast teise viia, siis Maldiividel läheb see kirja kinnisvarana, millele saab laenu võtta ning millel on kindel postiaadress. Minema liikuda sellega ei saa.

Elektrit toodetakse taaskasutatavatest allikatest ning jäätmete vedu tahetakse ka lahendada roheliselt, nii et midagi ei peaks ära viskama. Prügi ladustamine on ujuval saarel võimatu ning merre ei saa ka midagi jätta. Pealegi on linna asukohas ohustatud korallid.

click here for the source website

A modern marvel? Floating city rising from the Indian Ocean

By The Daily Star
2022.June.21

Maldives Floating City

Photo courtesy: Waterstudio.NL/Dutch Docklands

A city is rising from the Indian Ocean.

The floating city large enough to house 20,000 people is being built in a turquoise lagoon – just 10 minutes by boat from Male, the Maldivian capital, CNN reports.

The city will be built in the shape of a brain coral, with 5,000 floating units including houses, restaurants, shops, and schools with canals running in between. The first units will be unveiled this month, with residents expected to begin moving in early 2024, and the entire city is expected to be finished by 2027, the CNN report said.

The project, a collaboration between property developer Dutch Docklands and the Maldives government, is not intended to be a wild experiment or a futuristic vision. It is being built as a practical solution to the harsh reality of sea-level rise, CNN said.

Maldives Floating City

Photo courtesy: Waterstudio.NL/Dutch Docklands

The Maldives is one of the most vulnerable countries in the world to climate change. Eighty percent of its land area is less than one meter above sea level, and with levels expected to rise up to a meter by the end of the century, nearly the entire country could be submerged, said the report published on June 20, 2022.

But a floating city could rise with the sea

This is “new hope” for the more than half a million people of the Maldives, said Koen Olthuis, founder of architecture firm Waterstudio that designed the city. “It can prove that there is affordable housing, large communities, and normal towns on the water that are also safe. They (Maldivians) will go from climate refugees to climate innovators,” he told CNN.

According to the report, the project’s goal is to build a city for 20,000 people in less than five years. Other floating city plans, including Oceanix City in Busan, South Korea, and a series of floating islands in the Baltic Sea developed by the Dutch company Blue21 have been announced, but none compete with this scale and timeframe of this project.

The Maldives’ capital is vastly overcrowded, with no room for expansion other than into the sea, it said.

Maldives Floating City

Photo courtesy: Waterstudio.NL/Dutch Docklands

The modular units are built in a nearby shipyard and then towed to the floating city. They are then attached to a large underwater concrete hull that is screwed to the seabed on telescopic steel stilts that allow it to gently fluctuate with the waves. The coral reefs that surround the city act as a natural wave breaker, stabilizing it and preventing seasickness.

Olthuis told CNN that the structure’s potential environmental impact was rigorously assessed by local coral experts and approved by government authorities before construction began. Artificial coral banks made of glass foam are connected to the city’s underside to support marine life, which he claims helps stimulate coral growth naturally.

There will be electricity, powered predominantly by solar generated on site, and sewage will be treated locally and repurposed as plant manure. Instead of air conditioning, the city will use deep water sea cooling, which involves pumping cold water from the deep sea into the lagoon, thereby saving energy, the report said.

The goal is for the city to be self-sufficient and to perform all of the same functions as a city on land.

click here for source website

Werden Städte bald schon schwimmen?

Die presse
2022.June.21

Was wie ein extravagantes Architekturprojekt aussieht, ist die pragmatische Antwort auf den steigenden Meeresspiegel.

Was nach ferner Zukunftsmusik klingt, ist schon ab 2024 beziehbar. Eine Stadt, die sich aus den Gewässern des Indischen Ozeans erhebt, also quasi schwimmt. Und zwar zehn Bootsminuten von Male, der Hauptstadt der Malediven, entfernt. 20.000 Menschen sollen dort Platz finden, ist die Stadt erst einmal fertig. 2027 soll es so weit sein, getüftelt wird seit 13 Jahren, sagt Mohamed Nasheed, ehemaliger Präsident der Malediven und Ozeanograf in einem Interview.

Nun wurden die ersten Einheiten vorgestellt. Neben Wohnhäusern wird es Restaurants, Geschäfte, Krankenhäuser und Schulen geben, außerdem einen Yachthafen. Insgesamt 5000 Einheiten sollen entlang eines flexiblen, funktionalen Rasters schwimmen, über eine 200 Hektar große Lagune, so auf der Webseite des Projekts zu lesen. Die sechseckigen Segmente sind zum Teil der charakteristischen Geometrie der Korallen dort nachempfunden. Gezüchtete Korallenriffe rund um die Stadt sollen als Wellenbrecher dienen und die Stadt zu stabilisieren, erklärt Nasheed in einer Mitteilung.

Jedes der Häuser liegt direkt am Meer.
Jedes der Häuser liegt direkt am Meer. Waterstudio/Dutch Docklands Maldives

In den vergangenen Jahren wurden bereits Pläne für andere schwimmende Städte vorgestellt, etwa Oceanix City in Südkorea, und schwimmende Wohneinheiten in der Ostsee. In Umfang und Zeitplan ist die Maledives Floating City jedoch weltweit die erste ihrer Art.

Der Spiegel steigt und steigt

Gedacht ist das Projekt übrigens nicht als ausgefallenes Designexperiment, es ist schlichtweg eine pragmatische Antwort auf den Anstieg des Meeresspiegels. Das Projekt entstand in gemeinsamer Sache eines niederländischen Unternehmens, Dutch Docklands, und der Regierung der Malediven. Ersteres ist spezialisiert auf die Konstruktion schwimmender Residenzen (Stichwort: Hausboot).

Als Archipel aus 1190 Inseln, gehören die Malediven zu den Ländern, die am stärksten vom Klimawandel betroffen sind. 99,6 Prozent des Landes besteht aus Wasser, etwa achtzig Prozent der Fläche liegen weniger als einen Meter über dem Meeresspiegel. Prognosen zufolge soll dieser bis zum Ende des Jahrhunderts um bis zu einem Meter steigen, womit die gesamte Nation unter Wasser wäre.

Wenn eine Stadt aber schwimmt, kann sie mit dem Meeresspiegel ansteigen. Vergangenes Jahr kosteten Überschwemmungen die Weltwirtschaft nach Angaben der Rückversicherungsagentur Swiss Re mehr als 82 Milliarden Dollar, etwa 77,5 Millionen, Tendenz steigend. Einer Prognose des World Resources Institute zufolge, sei künftig mit Schäden städtischem Eigentums im Wert von mehr als 700 Milliarden Dollar jährlich zu rechnen, alleinig von Überschwemmungen an Küsten und Flüssen verursacht.

Malibu-Charakter

Die Maldives Floating City, wie das Projekt offiziell heißt, wird ausschließlich Residenzen direkt am Meer beherbergen, mit einer Größe von mindestens hundert Quadratmeter, vierzig Quadratmeter Dachterrasse Minimum inklusive. Zu haben ist so ein Zuhause ab 250.000 Dollar, etwa 237.000 Euro. Mit erschwinglichen Preisen will der Projektentwickler ein möglichst breites Spektrum an potenziellen Käuferinnen und Käufern ansprechen.

An Lebensqualität soll es den Bewohnenden von Maledives Floating City nicht fehlen.
An Lebensqualität soll es den Bewohnenden von Maledives Floating City nicht fehlen. Waterstudio/Dutch Docklands Maldives

Bunte Häuser, große Terrassen und Meerblick sollen für Wohlfühlatmosphäre sorgen. Fortbewegen wird man sich per Boot, zu Fuß, Rad oder Scooter, Autos haben hier keinen Platz.

click here for source website

click here for the project

LA PRIMA VERA CITTÀ GALLEGGIANTE AL MONDO È QUASI PRONTA (ALLE MALDIVE)

By Carla Amarillis
Elle Decor
2022.June.21

In costruzione a 10 minuti di barca da Malé, è stata progettata per ospitare chi dovrà lasciare le isole a causa dell’innalzamento del livello del mare

la città galleggiante alle maldive maldives floating city
courtesy Waterstudio

Circondata dalle acque cristalline delle Maldive, a soli 10 minuti di barca dalla capitale Male, è in costruzione una città galleggiante progettata per ospitare fino a 20 mila persone.

Il progetto – una joint venture tra lo sviluppatore immobiliare olandese Dutch Docklands e il governo delle Maldive, firmato dallo studio di architettura Waterstudio – è un tentativo di risolvere il problema dell’innalzamento del livello del mare, a cui le Maldive sono estremamente vulnerabili: l’arcipelago, composto da 1.190 isole che emergono per meno di un metro dal livello del mare, potrebbe essere completamente sommerso entro il 2100.

la città galleggiante alle maldive maldives floating city
courtesy Waterstudio

Dal punto di vista urbanistico, Maldives Floating City ha una forma che ricorda quella del corallo cerebrale e si compone di 5.000 unità galleggianti che ospiteranno case, ristoranti, negozi e scuole, collegate attraverso un sistema di ponti, canali e banchine. Ciascun modulo abitativo viene costruite in un cantiere navale locale, quindi rimorchiato e trasportato nella città galleggiante. Una volta posizionato, viene fissato a un grande scafo subacqueo in cemento ancorato al fondale tramite palafitte telescopiche in acciaio che gli permettono di fluttuare assecondando il moto ondoso.

Alcune unità sono già in via di completamento e i primi residenti potranno trasferirvisi all’inizio del 2024, mentre si prevede di completare l’intera città galleggiante entro la fine del 2027. Ogni residenza sarà affacciata sul mare, avrà una superficie che va dai 100 metri quadrati (a cui si aggiungono 40 metri quadri di terrazza sul tetto) in su e prezzi che partono dai 250 mila dollari.

L’impatto ambientale di questa città galleggiante “è stato rigorosamente valutato da esperti locali di coralli e approvato dalle autorità governative prima dell’inizio della costruzione” ha spiegato alla CNN Koen Olthuis, fondatore di Waterstudio.

la città galleggiante alle maldive maldives floating city
courtesy Waterstudio

Mesto prihodnosti že raste na morju #video

By I. H.
Siol.net
2022.June.20

Maldive sestavlja več kot tisoč otokov in država ima že leta velike težave z naraščajočo gladino morja, ki je že pogoltnilo marsikatero človeško naselje. Število klimatskih beguncev naj bi se povečalo za več kot pol milijona v naslednjih letih. Zato je bila maldivijska vlada prisiljena ukrepati in kot odgovor na spremembe v naravi se je rodila ideja o plavajočem mestu.

Ta mesec bodo javnosti predstavili prve hiše v novem mestu na Maldivih, ki bo v celoti zgrajeno na morju, poroča CNN. Gre za prvi obsežni projekt lokalne vlade v boju z globalnim segrevanjem in naraščajočo gladino morja. Novo mesto, ki se bo nahajalo deset minut vožnje z ladjo od maldivijske prestolnice Male, bo do leta 2027 imelo več kot pet tisoč hiš in okoli 20 tisoč prebivalcev.

Novo mesto bo zgrajeno v laguni, ki je velika več kot 200 hektarjev. | Foto: waterstudioNovo mesto bo zgrajeno v laguni, ki je velika več kot 200 hektarjev. Foto: waterstudio

Plavajoče mesto

Država Maldivi, ki ima več kot tisoč otokov, ima že leta velike težave z naraščajočo gladino morja, ki je že pogoltnilo marsikatero človeško naselje. Število klimatskih beguncev naj bi se povečalo za več kot pol milijona v naslednjih letih. Zato je bila maldivijska vlada prisiljena ukrepati in kot odgovor na spremembe v naravi se je rodila ideja o plavajočem mestu. “Gre za novo upanje prebivalcev. Dokazali bomo, da lahko na vodni gladini postavimo varne domove po ugodni ceni,” je za CNN projekt komentiral glavni arhitekt mesta Koen Olthuis.

Novo mesto bo zgrajeno do leta 2027, zaenkrat ima le delovno ime "Maldives Floating City". | Foto: waterstudioNovo mesto bo zgrajeno do leta 2027, zaenkrat ima le delovno ime “Maldives Floating City”. Foto: waterstudio

Hiše in druge zgradbe, ki bodo tvorile novo mesto, zgradijo v za to prilagojeni ladjedelnici. Vse zgradbe potem z ladjami odvlečejo do mesta, kjer raste novo mesto, ter jih pritrdijo na dno morja s posebnimi teleskopskimi jeklenimi “hoduljami”. Te zgradbam omogočajo, da kljubujejo valovom in se le rahlo zibljejo z morjem. “Pri načrtovanju mesta smo upoštevali najstrožje standarde glede zaščite okolja. Eden izmed zelo pomembnih ciljev gradnje je vzpodbujanje rasti koral,” je poudaril Olthuis.

Mesto bo tudi samozadostno. Sonce bo zagotavljalo elektriko, vse odpadke bodo reciklirali in jih ponovno uporabili. Tako bodo vse kanalizacijske vode uporabili za gnojila za rastline. Namesto klimatskih naprav bodo iz globine morja črpali hladno vodo, ki bo ohlajevala celotno mesto.

Novo mesto bo imelo več kot pet tisoč hiš in okoli 20 tisoč prebivalcev | Foto: waterstudioNovo mesto bo imelo več kot pet tisoč hiš in okoli 20 tisoč prebivalcev Foto: waterstudio

Mesta na vodi rastejo po celem svetu

Samo v lanskem letu so poplave po celem svetu naredile za več kot 70 milijard evrov škode. Do leta 2030 bo zaradi poplav v nevarnosti za več kot 600 milijard evrov nepremičnin, ki se nahajajo v urbanih naseljiv. Zato ni čudno, da plavajoča mesta rastejo po celem svetu. V južnokorejskem Buzanu nameravajo zgraditi plavajoče mesto za deset tisoč ljudi, medtem ko v Estoniji načrtujejo kar plavajoče umetne otoke.

waterstudio | Foto: waterstudioFoto: waterstudio

click here for source website

Amerikaanse media lovend over ‘drijvende stad’ van Nederlandse makelij

By Pim Pauwels
Metro Nieuws
2022.June.20

Waterstudio - Maldives Floating CityAmerikaanse media, waaronder CNN, hebben lovende woorden over voor een drijvende stad met een Nederlands tintje bij de Malediven. De stad  is groot genoeg om zo’n 20.000 mensen te huisvesten. CNN noemt de stad „een praktische oplossing voor de harde realiteit van de zeespiegelstijging”. Extra bijzonder is dat de stad door een Nederlandse projectontwikkelaar wordt gebouwd.

„Een stad rijst op uit de wateren van de Indische Oceaan”, begint CNN het louter positieve artikel. De stad heeft een patroon dat doet denken aan hersenen. 5.000 units moet in de stad komen, waaronder huizen, restaurants, winkels en scholen. De eerste bewoners kunnen er begin 2024 in en de hele stad is rond 2027 klaar.

Malediven liggen naar verwachting voor groot deel onder water in 2100

Het is niet verwonderlijk dat juist in de Malediven aan het project gewerkt wordt. De eilandengroep is een van ‘s werelds meest kwetsbare landen voor klimaatverandering. Ruim driekwart van het land ligt niet meer dan één meter boven de zeespiegel.

Aangezien die zeespiegel naar verwachting de komende tientallen jaren stijgt, ligt bijna het hele land voor 2100 onder water. Daarom moest er volgens de regering een oplossing komen. Die oplossing zagen ze in een drijvende stad.

Dutch Docklands en Waterstudio, twee Nederlandse bedrijven, zijn verantwoordelijk voor de bouw. In een eigen fotoserie deelt architectenbureau Waterstudio hoe de hypermoderne stad eruit moet komen zien.

Een drijvende stad stijgt mee met zeespiegel

In plaats van te bouwen op land, bouwen de Nederlanders in samenwerking met de Malediven op zee. Want een stad die drijft, stijgt mee met de zee, zo is het idee. „Dit is nieuwe hoop voor de meer dan een half miljoen mensen van de Malediven”, zegt Koen Olthuis, oprichter van Waterstudio, het architectenbureau dat de stad heeft ontworpen, tegen CNN.

„Het bewijst dat er betaalbare woningen, grote gemeenschappen en normale steden aan het water zijn die ook veilig zijn. De mensen op de Malediven zullen van klimaatvluchtelingen naar klimaatvernieuwers gaan.”

Nederland een ‘centrale plaats voor verandering’, aldus CNN

CNN verwijst naar de geschiedenis die Nederland met het water heeft. Ons land is volgens het Amerikaanse medium „een centrale plaats voor verandering geworden, met drijvende parken, een drijvende melkveehouderij en een drijvend kantoorgebouw”, waarmee ze verwijzen naar projecten in Rotterdam.

Plannen voor een drijvende stad zijn overigens niet helemaal nieuw. Zo lanceerde Zuid-Korea ook al een plan om een stad op zee te maken. Die draagt de naam Oceanix City. Ook wijst CNN naar een reeks drijvende eilanden in de Oostzee, die weer door een Nederlands bedrijf wordt gemaakt. „Maar geen enkele kan op tegen de schaal en tijdschema van het plan op de Malediven.”

A floating city in the Maldives begins to take shape

 

 

Acity is rising from the waters of the Indian Ocean. In a turquoise lagoon, just 10 minutes by boat from Male, the Maldivian capital, a floating city, big enough to house 20,000 people, is being constructed.
Designed in a pattern similar to brain coral, the city will consist of 5,000 floating units including houses, restaurants, shops and schools, with canals running in between. The first units will be unveiled this month, with residents starting to move in early 2024, and the whole city is due to be completed by 2027.
The project — a joint venture between property developer Dutch Docklands and the Government of the Maldives — is not meant as a wild experiment or a futuristic vision: it’s being built as a practical solution to the harsh reality of sea-level rise.
An archipelago of 1,190 low-lying islands, the Maldives is one of the world’s most vulnerable nations to climate change. Eighty percent of its land area is less than one meter above sea level, and with levels projected to rise up to a meter by the end of the century, almost the entire country could be submerged.
A rendering of the Maldives floating city shows how the colorful buildings will be linked up by a network of canals. Credit: Koen Olthuis, Waterstudio.nl
But if a city floats, it could rise with the sea. This is “new hope” for the more than half a million people of the Maldives, said Koen Olthuis, founder of Waterstudio, the architecture firm that designed the city. “It can prove that there is affordable housing, large communities, and normal towns on the water that are also safe. They (Maldivians) will go from climate refugees to climate innovators,” he told CNN.

Hub of floating architecture

Born and bred in the Netherlands — where about a third of the land sits below sea level — Olthuis has been close to water his whole life. His mother’s side of the family were shipbuilders and his father comes from a line of architects and engineers, so it seemed only natural to combine the two, he said. In 2003, Olthuis founded Waterstudio, an architecture firm dedicated entirely to building on water.
At that time signs of climate change were present, but it wasn’t considered a big enough issue that you could build a company around it, he said. The biggest problem then was space: cities were expanding, but suitable land for new urban development was running out.
Want to future-proof your home from rising sea levels? Make it float
However in recent years, climate change has become “a catalyst,” driving floating architecture towards the mainstream, he said. Over the last two decades, Waterstudio has designed more than 300 floating homes, offices, schools and health care centers around the world.
The Netherlands has become a center for the movement, home to floating parks, a floating dairy farm, and a floating office building, which serves as the headquarters for the Global Center on Adaptation (GCA), an organization focused on scaling climate adaptation solutions.
Patrick Verkooijen, CEO of GCA, sees floating architecture as both a practical and economically smart solution for rising sea levels.

The Global Center on Adaptation head office is anchored in the Nieuwe Maas River in Rotterdam.

The Global Center on Adaptation head office is anchored in the Nieuwe Maas River in Rotterdam. Credit: Marcel IJzerman
“The cost of not adapting to these flood risks is extraordinary,” he told CNN. “We have a choice to make: we either delay and pay, or we plan and prosper. Floating offices and floating buildings are part of this planning against the climate of the future.”
Last year, flooding cost the global economy more than $82 billion, according to reinsurance agency Swiss Re, and as climate change triggers more extreme weather, costs are expected to rise. One report from the World Resources Institute predicts that by 2030, urban property worth more than $700 billion will be impacted annually by coastal and riverine flooding.
But despite momentum in recent years, floating architecture still has a long way to go in terms of scale and affordability, said Verkooijen. “That’s the next step in this journey: how can we scale up, and at the same time, how can we speed up? There’s an urgency for scale and speed.”

A normal city, just afloat

The Maldives project aims to achieve both, constructing a city for 20,000 people in less than five years. Other plans for floating cities have been launched, such as Oceanix City in Busan, South Korea, and a series of floating islands on the Baltic Sea developed by Dutch company Blue21, but none compete with this scale and timeframe.
Waterstudio’s city is designed to attract local people with its rainbow-colored homes, wide balconies and seafront views. Residents will get around on boats, or they can walk, cycle or drive electric scooters or buggies along the sandy streets.

The capital of the Maldives is hugely overcrowded, with no room to expand besides into the sea.

The capital of the Maldives is hugely overcrowded, with no room to expand besides into the sea. Credit: Carl Court/Getty Images AsiaPac
It offers space that is hard to come by in the capital — Male is one of the most densely-populated cities in the world, with more than 200,000 people squeezed into an area of around eight square kilometers. And prices are competitive with those in the Hulhumalé (a manmade island built nearby to ease overcrowding) — starting at $150,000 for a studio or $250,000 for a family home, said Olthuis.
The modular units are constructed in a local shipyard, then towed to the floating city. Once in position, they are attached to a large underwater concrete hull, which is screwed to the seabed on telescopic steel stilts that let it gently fluctuate with the waves. Coral reefs that surround the city help to provide a natural wave breaker, stabilizing it and preventing inhabitants from feeling seasick.
Olthuis said that the potential environmental impact of the structure was rigorously assessed by local coral experts and approved by government authorities before construction began. To support marine life, artificial coral banks made from glass foam are connected to the underside of the city, which he said help stimulate coral to grow naturally.

Residents can get around the city by boat, and it's only around a 10-minute ride to the capital and international airport.

Residents can get around the city by boat, and it’s only around a 10-minute ride to the capital and international airport. Credit: Waterstudio.NL/Dutch Docklands
The aim is for the city to be self-sufficient and have all the same functions as one on land. There will be electricity, powered predominantly by solar generated on site, and sewage will be treated locally and repurposed as manure for plants. As an alternative to air conditioning, the city will use deep water sea cooling, which involves pumping cold water from the deep sea into the lagoon, helping to save energy.
By developing a fully functioning floating city in the Maldives, Olthuis hopes this type of architecture will be propelled to the next level. It will no longer be “freak architecture” found in luxurious locations commissioned by the super-rich, but an answer to climate change and urbanization, that’s both practical and affordable, he said.
“If I, as an architect, want to make a difference, we have to scale up,” he said.
By Nell Lewis & Milly Chan
CNN style
2022.June.20

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