Instead of becoming climate refugees, Maldivians decide to become climate innovators by using engineering to stay above the surface.
In the face of the reality of climate change, the Maldives is getting the world's first truly floating island city - appropriately called Maldives Floating City (MFC).
The Government of the Maldives, an island republic in the northern Indian ocean that has the lowest terrain of any country in the world (according to NASA), has recently revealed its plans for the MFC. This is crucial news for the Maldives since it'll enable the country to mitigate the effects of climate change and rising sea levels.
Maldives Floating City, designed by the Netherlands-based Dutch Docklands, will be built in a lagoon in a series of hexagonal maze rows that are inspired by the look of coral. It will offer thousands of waterfront residences floating beside a functional gridwork, reports Interesting Engineering.
The floating rows system will be attached to a ring of islands that form the base and to a stabilizing breaker wall. With some clever engineering, island barriers around the lagoon will act as breakers below the MFC while the city floats up top. "This ingenious configuration lessens the impact of lagoon waves while stabilizing the structures and complexes on the surface", explains the government press release.
The floating complex will include homes, stores, hospitals, schools, recreational facilities, and public spaces. The construction is scheduled to start in 2022.
"MFC does not require any land reclamation, therefore has a minimal impact on the coral reefs,” says Mohamed Nasheed, who was the president of the Maldives between 2008 and 2012. "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 MFC proposes. In the Maldives, we cannot stop the waves, but we can rise with them."
You can learn more about the project by watching the 90 second video below: