BBC Focus - 09.2019

n 2007,MarcCollinsChenwasworkingas

theministerfortourisminFrench

Polynesiawhenreportsstartedto

emergethatthePacificislandswouldbe

underthreatfromrisingsealevelsinthe

comingdecades.“Therewasn’tconsensus

aroundwhenthiswouldhappen,”hesays.

“Buttherewasa senseofdoom.”

Today,Chenis CEOofOceanix,a company

basedinHongKongthat’sdeveloping

conceptsforoatingcities.He’snowbeen

workingontheproblemfor 12 years.“If

you’rea PacificIslanderandmanyofyour

islandsareatsealevel,youhavetolookata

solution,”hesays.

Earlierthisyear,Oceanixannounceda

collaborationwiththeBjarkeIngelsGroup

(BIG)andMIT’sCentreforOceanEngineering,

creatinga conceptfora cityof10,000people.

It wasunveiledaspartoftheUN’sNewUrban

Agenda,a plantocreatewaysfortheworld’s

growingpopulationtolivemoresustainably.

The10,000figureis anestimate,saysChen,

andthewaythecityworksmeansit willbe

abletohostasfeworasmanypeopleas

necessary.Thecitywillbemadeupof

oating,roughlytriangularplatforms,each

aroundtwohectaresinareaandhome

to 300 people.Eachplatform,or

‘neighbourhood’,willgenerateitsown

renewableelectricityfromthewavesand

Sun,andthepopulationcanbeincreasedby

addingmoreofthesemodularplatforms.

Alongsiderenewableenergy,thecitywill

growitsownplant-basedfood,andtreatand

reuseallwastewater.“Ifyouwantedtofeed

everybodywithbeefandchicken,you’dneed

somuchsurfaceareaandfreshwater,”says

Chen.“It’dbecomeeconomicallyunfeasible.”

Theplatformswillbesecuredtothe

seabedwithbiorock,whichis a material

alreadybeingusedtocreateartificialreefs

aroundtheworld.A low-voltageelectrical

currentis passedthrougha steelframe,

LIFE AT SEA

whichelectrolysestheseawateraround it

andcauseschargedparticles(‘ions’)to build

uponitssurface,coatingthesteelina rocky

substancethat’sasstrongasconcrete.

Makingsurethecitieshavea positive

impactontheenvironmentis crucial, Chen

says.TheUNuses‘ecologicalfootprints’ to

measuretheimpactpeoplehaveonthe

naturalworld,measuredinglobalhectares

perperson.Atcurrentpopulationlevels, our

planethasonly1.7globalhectares(gha) of

biologicallyproductivesurfaceareaper

person.Atthemoment,theUKhasa

footprintof7.9ghaperperson,which means

we’reusingmorethanwehave.Asthe

world’spopulationincreases,weneed to be

reducingourindividualfootprints.Chen says

thatOceanixcouldhavea footprintof as

lileas0.5ghaperperson,helpingto reduce

thestrainonourailingplanet.

Thismightallsoundquitefar-fetched, but

Chenbelievesit willhappen,andsoon. The

companyis aimingtohavea prototype of the

oatingcityinplacewithinthenexttwo and

a halfyears,althoughthelocationhas not

yetbeenpinneddown. 2

Residents will

walk, cycle or boat

through the city, with

solar-powered ferries

transporting them to

the mainland

I

AS SEA LEVELS ENCROACH ON THE LAND, COULD

WE MOVE PEOPLE TO THE OCEANS?

BJARKE INGELS GROUP

FEATURE ECO CITIES