Are floating cities the answer to our future housing needs? Belgian architect Vincent Callebaut thinks they are; which is why he has designed a series of 'lilypad' inspired bobbing cities.
Constructed from chrome and carbon, the pads are designed to provide refuge for those escaping rising sea levels and would, if constructed, be situated around the coastlines of current major cities including Dubai, Shanghai, and Hong Kong. However, they will not be tethered to the land, allowing them to 'bob' and potentially move around within the water.
Each "ecopolis", as the architect calls them, accommodates 50,000 people and is "dedicated to work, shops and entertainment" and includes suspended gardens, fake hills, an artificial lagoon, and "streets and alleyways with organic outline".
The pads will also be carbon neutral and will achieve this by utilising energy from the sun, the wind, biomass, and tidal waves, as well as processing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
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