Oceanix - a prototype of a floating city will be built in South Korea

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A prototype Oceanix floating city will be built off the coast of South Korea to withstand natural disasters and calamities.

Changing climatic conditions on our planet pose a number of challenges to humanity. Natural disasters such as hurricanes, tsunamis and floods wreak havoc on coastlines and force us to look for new solutions. Oceanix‘s floating city project is the answer to some of these problems.

The first steps were taken by the group of engineers and specialists in construction and architecture back in 2018, when it started working with the United Nations (UN). The aim was to discuss the concept of creating the floating city of the future. It had to have a range of solutions that would provide answers to many of today’s and tomorrow’s problems. As a result of these activities, a company was established in New York Oceanix.

Located in South Korea, the city of Busan has signed an agreement with UN-Habitat and the Oceanixwhich aims to build the world’s first prototype sustainable floating city. UN-Habitat is the UN special programme for human settlements. Oceanix, on the other hand, is a creation brought to life by representatives of the Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG), The Explorers Club and the Center for Ocean Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

The floating city off the coast of Busan is intended not only to be flood-proof, but also a fully sustainable creation. This means that the Oceanix city will produce its own food, energy and fresh water. All in a fully integrated zero-waste closed loop system.

Sustainable floating cities are part of the arsenal of climate adaptation strategies available to us. Instead of fighting water, let us learn to live in harmony with it. We look forward to developing climate adaptation and nature-based solutions. Busan is the ideal choice to implement the prototype – said Maimunah Mohd Sharif, Executive Director of UN-Habitat.

City of floating islands

The proposal put forward by Oceanix involves creating a city based on interconnected hexagonal modules in the form of small islands. The whole will be able to accommodate up to 10,000 inhabitants and will cover an area of 75 hectares.

Each module will be able to accommodate around 300 residents, who will find space for working, living and relaxing. According to the concept, the basic hexagonal modules will be connected to form larger village-like formations. Each village will consist of 6 interconnected modules and will have a specific specialisation. The 6 connected villages in turn will form an archipelago with an inner harbour.

The city of Busan is located on the south-eastern tip of the Korean peninsula. It is both South Korea’s largest portwith a metropolitan area of over 4 million inhabitants. Local authorities supporting the project OceanixThey intend to work together to find the best solutions for the future. Therefore, the key to these activities is to be sustainability and technological solutions to stimulate a flourishing environment.