- Group of biologists, nautical engineers and biologists, backed by Paypal founder Peter Thiel plans on building a floating city, or ‘seastead’ by 2020
- City would be built on concrete platforms, but no location’s been decided
- Aim is to try new modes of government and energy production, for example in a bid to solve some of the world’s most pressing challenges
- Report claims project to cost $167 million (£109 million) is viable
It plans to build floating islands to host aquaculture farms, floating healthcare, medical research islands, and sustainable energy powerhouses.
The first city would be built on a network of 11 rectangular and five-sided platforms so the city could be rearranged according to its inhabitants’ needs like a floating jigsaw, Joe Quirk, spokesman for the project explained.
A feasibility report by Dutch engineering firm Deltasync says the square and pentagon platforms would measure 164 ft (50metres) in length and they would have 164 ft-tall (50 metre) sides to protect buildings and residents.
The platforms will be made from reinforced concrete and support three-storey buildings such as apartments, terraces, offices and hotels for up to 100 years, according to the plans.
It’s envisaged that between 250 and 300 people will call the first floating city home, but there is no clue yet about where it could be located.
The plan is that the city will float just off-shore of a host nation, but have a substantial degree of political independence.
The original proposal was to look to international waters to establish new nations, but the Institute realised locating its city off the coast would enable the inhabitants to go onshore and acquire goods, give it more shelter from storms and better legal protection.
The Institute says: ‘Our in-house team is now actively engaged in diplomacy with host nations, making the case that hosting an autonomous seastead city in their territorial waters would produce significant economic, social and environmental benefits for their citizens.’
It believes its floating city would create an environment that encourages innovation and start-up governments, rather than what it calls the ‘monopolies’ of today.
The Institute claims it will ‘give people the freedom to choose the government they want instead of being stuck with the government they get’.
If inhabitants disagree with the city’s government, they could paddle their colony to another city, forcing governments to work to attract citizens.
The feasibility report supports the idea that the project is economically feasible, with each platform costing less than $15 million (£10 million) which works out at a similar price as land in London or New York.
Overall, the first floating city is predicted to cost $167 million (£109 million) but the Institute now needs to raise the cash and find a suitable spot for its idyllic city if it is to be built.
Speaking in 2008, Mr Thiel said: ‘Decades from now, those looking back at the start of the century will understand that Seasteading was an obvious step towards encouraging the development of more efficient, practical public sector models around the world.
‘We’re at a fascinating juncture: the nature of government is about to change at a very fundamental level.’
The Institute aims to have tens of millions of residents by 2050 and hopes to have dozens and eventually hundreds of platforms linked together to create an idyllic metropolis.
