In an effort to mitigate the impending effects of sea-level rise on coastal populations through architecture, UN-Habitat and OCEANIX are once again taking the lead with a new prototype for a floating settlement in the South Korean city of Busan. 

The buzzworthy pair had previously made waves with a Bjarke Ingels-backed 2019 proposal for a floodproof habitat which has now officially found a home thanks to a groundbreaking agreement with the city’s government. 

Now, with almost 50 centimeters of sea-level rise expected for the southern peninsula by mid-century, leaders in South Korea look to the prototype as a guide to extreme adaptation efforts that could help circumvent the challenges caused by an influx of coastal city dwellers overrunning a country of 52 million whose total land area is roughly equivalent to the state of Indiana. 

The city proposal claims to be designed to withstand a number of natural disasters including tsunamis and the equivalent of a category 5 hurricane. Programmed as a series of hexagon-shaped floating platforms, the still-nascent project (OCEANIX says it has yet to determine the size of the habitat) will offer modular designs for shelter, culture, healthcare, and other necessary structures supported by underwater farms and a special electrified limestone coating that strengthens with age.

Coastal regions in other parts of the world are facing a similar danger with the added threat of having their cultures destroyed entirely if an intervention such as this cannot be accomplished. What OCEANIX hopes for would constitute a major development in the fight against a vulnerability that affects 90% of the world’s largest cities, something the company’s development partner feels is a vital weapon in worldwide efforts to adapt to the most pressing outputs of climate change. 

“Sustainable floating cities are a part of the arsenal of climate adaptation strategies available to us. Instead of fighting with water, let us learn to live in harmony with it,” UN-Habitat Executive Director Maimunah Mohd Sharif said in a statement. “We look forward to developing climate adaptation and nature-based solutions through the floating city concept, and Busan is the ideal choice to deploy the prototype.”

Initial costs are estimated at around $200 million but are expected to grow as the design takes shape. For now, construction is expected to begin next year with the full prototype delivered by 2025. OCEANIX has said the company is in talks with ten other cities. A model of their original prototype is on view in the Smithsonian Museum’s FUTURES exhibition until July of next year.