Floating Cities
For centuries, native people from Asia to the Americas have made their lives on the water. Whether perched atop lakes, in streams, the ocean or the sea, far-sighted pioneers have worked with the waves to support their families, homes and communities.
Contemporary property developers have long eyed the planet’s unique “floating islands” – envying them for their utility, ingenuity and sustainability. But translating these local dwellings into modern, scalable, commercially-viable real estate has always appeared beyond reach.
Until now.
Dutch Docklands International BV, is the Worlds leading developer for Floating Cities. We work preferably together with Governments in a Public-Private-Partnership in order to share the opportunity of creating new potential building space ON the water.
What we do
Our 10 requirements for a Floating City
01.
Legality
A floating city must be part of a legal framework of a city or country. This gives the inhabitants a legal status. The floating homes and other structures must be labelled as real-estate, like in Maldives, in order to make finance and insurance possible.
02.
Construction modularity
A city consisting of thousands of units can only be build when infrastructure and units are built from a modular system in order to ensure quality, standardization, certification, short construction time, cost control and efficient maintenance.
03.
Accessibility
A floating city needs gateways for inhabitants and visitors to reach the city easily. Modern cities have hundreds of entrance points, a cruise ship has only a few. A floating city with canals provides multiple access points.
04.
Power supply
Power and utilities are the backbone of a floating city. The reduction of energy consumption and production of green/blue energy in a smart grid where each unit shares and uses the surplus of available energy is an essential element for a viable floating city.
05.
Supply and waste management
The healthy viable metabolism of a floating city is depending on the supply and distribution of goods, storage and controlled waste treatment and disposal. Supply and waste management must be integrated in the urban planning. A healthy floating city starts with the metabolism structure.
06.
Environmental impact
Shadows caused by space covered with floating structures must be in balance with the amount of sunlight that can reach the seabed. Large floating structures must provide enough open space. The floating structures must enhance underwater life, instead of causing any negative effects.
07.
Mooring, stability and safety
Forces of nature, waves, extreme weather, and sea-level rise for a 100-year prediction must be engineered in advance. Rigidity versus flexibility and a mooring system that can divert all the extreme forces are the base of a floating city design. Single structure city foundations act as huge mega ships, which have to handle enormous forces. By dividing the city in elements these forces can be handled in a more effective way with minimal risks.
08.
Defence, law and order
A floating city needs law and order as well as a defence system. Once the floating city is part of an existing law and order framework, this will enable inhabitants to live in a safe and protected environment.
09.
Community based city
A floating city must be a dynamic city, which means its structure must have ability to be adjusted, appended and updated as building for change is the only way to response to unknown challenges of the future. A city with a growth model existing of smaller structures will provide this flexibility.
10.
Flexibility and response time
A floating city is more than just the sum of the built structures. Community-based developments are based on culture and common liveability goals, and will be the backbone of a healthy and feasible city.