Blue 21 the design of floating cities ( seasteading )

Karina Czapiewska is one of the founders of Blue 21, which designs, engineers and implements floating architecture. Their goal is to create floating cities that have a positive impact on the surrounding ecology. What is needed for municipalities to accept floating cities? How does floating architecture change the perspective on city planning? How is a city like a parasite? Existing technologies can change the impact cities have on the environment by eliminating waste. People in the Netherlands have been living on houseboats since the 1800s but Karina and her colleagues learned that navigating the many regulations for building floating architecture is no easy feat.

A growing world population and the increasing demand of space and food necessary to sustain 9200 million people by 2050 requires additional space. That’s why it is time for a Blue Revolution.

No matter what, we will face land scarcity in 2050, even reducing waste and increasing agricultural production efficiency. So where will we find the space we need to expand our cities? To grow food? To reserve nature? Water is the key. Both due to its proximity to delta cities and the availability of resources. Floating structures also reduce vulnerability and enhance resilience during floods and other extreme weather events.In order to perform even better, water-based food production systems need to be integrated with land-based systems: nutrients and CO2 from cities and agricultural land could be used to grow algae and produce food and bio-fuel. These nutrients, often lost in the environment, are a major issue, especially in densely populated Delta areas.

Delta cities should re-cycle their nutrients, preserving water quality and decreasing their dependency on external energy sources and on the global system of food production. Algae and fish production can be combined with settlements on the water, creating floating cities in symbiosis with existing delta cities.

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