Floating cities as an innovative response to climate change | DW Documentary

Sea levels are rising due to climate change. Many coastal cities are at growing risk of flooding. Architects are trying to react to this development with new ideas, such as floating cities. But this concept is not without its problems.

Architect Koen Olthuis is constructing a floating city in the Maldives, sustainably cooled with sea water. In the Netherlands, Sacha and Jan live in a waterborne section of the Steigereiland neighborhood. It's based on a complicated feat of engineering - but also depends on cooperation and solidarity. If one home is too heavy, it raises the one next door. Yet Sacha and Jan like its collaborative nature. The residents of the floating neighborhood all love living by the water, not far from the heart of Amsterdam.

In Germany, a University of Kiel project goes even further. Biologist Martina Mühl is researching the possibility of implementing aquaculture very close to home, so residents can tap their own fresh local supply of fish and seafood.

Hamburg and Bremen have been responding to rising tides by constructing ever higher levees. But soon even this will no longer be enough to cope with the growing impact of climate change. This documentary shows possible alternatives to levees and how we might be able to cope with the rising sea levels in the future.

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[VelcorHF]

As a dude who sails and has spent time on the water, I can’t imagine a community that could weather storms and high wave situations long term. There’s a reason why they aren’t common and with sea level rise and temp rises we get bigger and more severe storms.

[Xamry]

I’m also worried about people dumping trash, detergents, and all kinds of stuff into the water. They could try making it illegal all they want but where people gather there’s inevitably going to be waste, especially hazardous waste.

[tansytansy]

it's sad that the documentary didn't mention how floating houses would overshadow seaweed that needs light to produce oxygen for the marine ecosystems

[sleepy_dobe]

Not a far-fetched idea, but need I remind sea doesn't always stay calm. What will happen to the homes and cities when you get rough seas and tall waves from a tsunami, or seas like those in the Atlantic, or the Baltics. Those waves are not going to be gentle with whatever you build on them. Whatever you do, the homes/cities must stay level in whatever weather conditions, cos if you allow for them to go rocking up and down, imagine the contents of the homes when they start rocking. It's no different from being in an earthquake. Anchor it to the seabed? Then how is that different from building on existing land? Moreover, if you have to build anchoring foundations into the seabed, you're already disturbing the ecosystem and marine environment underwater beneath your floating city. That would be worse than developing existing land.

Not to mention the problem of plumbing and sewage, and the sea air's corrosive effects on electronics, electrical items and everything else made of metal. Plus the cost of delivering electricity from the power stations to homes and buildings. You can't go underground or undersea as all that cabling will become like a net, trapping and killing marine life underneath your cities/homes. Overhead cabling? What happens when heavy storms come and your floating cities/homes start rocking and pulling on the overhead cables? All you need is for one cable to snap, fall towards the sea and touch the water. Anyone in contact with the water is electrocuted immediately. Each home/building gets their own generator? Then your floating city is going to be even bigger and taller than land-bound cities of equivalent population. How is that good for the environment?

It's a very eye-catching, very sensational, very unconventional idea. But when one digs deeper into the engineering challenges it poses and the costs, both financial as well as non-financial, one might be better off just building sea walls on the edge of every coastline. Trust architects and designers to come up with unconventional or pretty solutions/ideas, but always always consult the engineer on what it will cost to build, and to subsequently maintain it. Architects/designers want to build beautiful things. Engineers want to build things that work, are safe, and will last a lifetime. I trust an engineer more than I trust an architect/designer.

[angelocadena]

These floating homes and establishments are all and good until you are hit by category 4 or 5 typhoons. The storm surge alone will erase them in hours. Take it from a Filipino who have experienced The Super Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan). - respects from 🇵🇭

[gregnulik]

Popular Science magazine suggested this for New Orleans more than a decade ago.

One problem I noticed with floating homes is Ambulance access. Docks need more room for emergency services.

[gooby_pls]

The rocking of the floating homes seems like a headache :/
It's an interesting concept but wind smashing against the structures and the rocking seem like pretty big problems

[rmpatil]

Floating house is basically concept developed in reality by Vietnam. Mekong Delta is live proof where floating Market is rocking destination for the tourist.
However appreciate DW for their initiative to highlight such futuristic issue and to guide how to tackle.

[CaptainFistArt]

Watching dw documentary really helps to get over my depression

[carsonm]

This is coping with climate change, not combating it. Definitely something we should be investigating, but as the PM said, curbing the need for this in the first place should be humankind's #1 priority.

[tsbrownie]

Initial costs are cheaper, but longer term maintenance will more than eat that up (that's a common theme in "cost savings" for lower income people). There will be more drownings of children and adults. It will change wave and currents causing erosion or deposition patterns. There will be more pollution of water, if not lazy people tossing in trash, then spills of cleaning chemicals, fertilizers, etc. Maybe it's better if we fix the root causes of sea level rise, over crowded city centers, etc.

[MrElamerican]

I've been hearing the sea level rising crap since I arrived in FL in 1993... but the only thing rising are the house prices by the coast.

[NewZealandWild]

It's hard to imagine something like that here on the West Coast of The South Island of New Zealand, where there are often gales, and there are usually large swells and waves pounding the shore.

[franciscomolina]

the contamination of the sea will be another problem with this type of house bulidings

[DrMFoster]

Why not just improve the industries of smaller towns so they're more attractive to live in instead of trying to pile more growth onto the few already big cities?

[dimarakusumahakim]

I think instead of $265K for a house on the ocean it's better $67K in a camper boat. House on the sea, can't go anywhere, but our boat goes outside the region/country. Plus, road maintenance costs are a shared expense, and house maintenance comes from personal funds. Meanwhile, for camper boats, the maintenance costs are personal costs.

[aarnoarnold]

I love the idea of living in a floating home. However, since it would be salt water, how would electronics hold up against corrosion? Frequently replacing such things would get quite expensive.

[epeeypen]

where have the levels gone up tho? like what coast city has seen a rise and at what amount?

[broccolishishi]

cambodia's floating village has been rising and lowering with changes in flood and water level for years, even have floating school and churches

[johnnykeys]

I must live in a unique part of the world where the sea level doesn't rise... I surf everyday and the high and low tide marks are exactly the same as they were in the 1980s.