Maldives Floating City is planned to accommodate up to 20,000 residents. Badly needed. Global warming is sinking the country.
Is it possible to reverse the harm we’ve done to the planet after burning so much fossil fuel? For the people of Maldives, time is of the essence, and they’re not waiting to find out.
Alice Finney writes at dezeen, “The Maldives has partnered with architecture studio Waterstudio to create a brain-shaped floating city that will house 20,000 people in a lagoon near the country’s capital.
“Called Maldives Floating City, the development will contain 5,000 low-rise floating homes floating 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 (three feet) above sea level. With the Maldives islands predicted to be uninhabitable by 2100 due to rising sea levels, the government of the Maldives hopes to offer up to 20,000 locals and foreigners the opportunity to move to the floating city as early as 2024.
“Construction is planned to begin later this year on the development, which will be 10 minutes by boat from the Maldivian capital Male.
” ‘This first-of-its-kind island city offers a revolutionary approach to modern sustainable living perched against a backdrop of the azure Indian Ocean,’ said the studio. …
“Maldives Floating City is among a number of floating city proposals, including Oceanix Busan by architecture firms BIG and Samoo and tech company Oceanix that are designed to offer a housing solution to rising sea levels and global temperature increases.
“However, developer Dutch Docklands claims that none have been attempted on this scale and at this speed with full governmental support.
” ‘While attempts at floating cities have been tried before, none have featured Maldives Floating City’s most compelling selling points: full-scale technical, logistical and legal expertise,’ explained Dutch Docklands.
“The development, which is set to be fully completed by 2027, will be composed of a series of hexagonal islands modeled on the geometric shapes of a local coral called brain coral. When combined and viewed from above the development will resemble a brain. …
“The living platforms will support houses, hotels, restaurants, shops, a hospital, a school and a government building. …
” ‘As a nation at the front lines of global warming, the Maldives is perfectly positioned to reimagine how humankind will survive — and, indeed, thrive — in the face of rising seas and coastal erosion,’ said the Dutch Docklands.
” ‘Inspired by traditional Maldivian sea-faring culture and developed in close cooperation with Maldivian authorities, Maldives Floating City homes will eventually be joined by hotels, restaurants, stylish boutiques and a world-class marina.’
“The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (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.
” ‘The world faces unavoidable multiple climate hazards over the next two decades with global warming of 1.5°C (2.7°F)’ the report by the United Nations’ climate change panel said. ‘Even temporarily exceeding this warming level will result in additional severe impacts, some of which will be irreversible. Risks for society will increase, including to infrastructure and low-lying coastal settlements.’
“Viable solutions for urban development into the ocean listed in the report include elevating houses on stilts and creating ‘amphibious architecture’ that can float on the surface of rising floodwater.”
Oy. I try to find hopeful stories for the blog, but I think I failed on this one. We really need to reverse what we’ve done. I know climate is not the same as weather, but the extremes of weather we are seeing should convince even nonbelievers that something is going on. I left for my walk at 5:15 am today to “beat the heat.” It was already 80F (26.6 C)!
More at dezeen, here.
Suzanne's Mom's Blog 
Fascinating idea! I wonder if it will be put into practice. It is hard to remain hopeful in the face of such denial and obstruction, the latter from big oil, who wants the money to keep pouring in. But, a bill just passed the Senate that includes significant money to address climate change. Perhaps not as much as we would like, but it’s not nothing. We will certainly be looking into a heat pump rebate if the bill passes in the House, which it’s expected to do.
We can get a heat pump rebate here, if we want. Being worn out by the problems we had switching from gas to electric for the stove and hot water heater this summer, we will have to wait a bit on that.
Indian Islands play a significant role in making the country a beautiful destination. The surging Indian Islands are well-encompassed by lush forests and possess an infinite variety of striking fauna and flora. The beauty of the Arabian Sea and the cobalt hue of the Bay of Bengal lend a magical touch to the Indian Islands. There are several islands in India which are well-known for their tourist importance. These Indian Islands are distributed in various Indian states and many of them are given in the link below.
https://www.indianetzone.com/24/indian_islands.htm
OK. But the post was about islands getting flooded everywhere and needing floating, man made structures instead.