Government Green Lights Building Of Atlantis, Construction Begins in 2019

When talking about cities of the future, most people often think of major landmasses floating in the sky. Before getting there, however, it seems engineers are looking at solving the floating aspect first and they are looking at the ocean. The government of French Polynesia already signed off on a proposal by a U.S. firm to build a floating city off its coast and construction begins in 2019.

News about plans to build the city appeared last year when a company called The Seasteading Institute was revealed to have a plan on constructing a metropolis called Artisanopolis, Futurism reports. The main point of the project is to create an artificial landmass that is buoyant enough to support an entire community, complete with all of the amenities that comes with modern cities.

These include the power grid, office buildings, hotels, apartments, and markets. Most of the electricity will be produced by solar and hydroelectric resources, while food will be produced via greenhouses. The drinking water will come from the ocean after processing the liquid through a desalination plant.

As of right now, nothing is set. Even though the French Polynesian government agreed to actually be the site for the first floating city, the engineers first need to prove that it’s actually a viable concept. Everything hinges on the economic advantages of such an undertaking. If it costs more than it gives back, the backers are not going to be too thrilled funneling more money into the project.

There’s also the matter of political autonomy that The Seasteading Institute is looking for, ABC reports. While the city will be built within the jurisdiction and territory of French Polynesia and France, the engineers are hoping that they will be allowed some independence to make certain choices. The project will be as much of a societal experiment as it is a technological one.