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August 23, 2011 By Jessica Mulholland
Could floating cities like the depictions shown above become a reality?
It's a possibility, as the Seasteading Institute is researching such architectural plans -- but currently there are no plans to build a floating city in the near future.
A recent story by Details Magazine reported that Peter Thiel, who launched PayPal and funded Facebook, is now looking to build independent countries in international waters, and he’s working closely with the Seasteading Institute to do it. The story reported that these start-up countries would be built on oil rig-like platforms, and they’d be moveable, diesel-powered 12,000 ton structures that may house up to 270 residents, and that the plan is to link them together into a massive web.
These micro-countries, Thiel said in the Details story, could be instrumental in “experimenting with new ideas for government.”
While the magazine article wrote that Thiel said he plans to launch a flotilla office park off the coast of San Francisco and predicts full settlement of the first island in 2019, that is not exactly accurate. Former Seasteading Institute staff members, however, are developing a similar concept: a business that will take place on a ship off the coast of Silicon Valley.
Photos courtesy of the Seastead Design Contest
*this story was updated on 09/01/2011 to reflect factual inaccuracies brought to Government Technology's attention.
You may use or reference this story with attribution and a link to
http://www.govtech.com/photos/Photo-of-the-Week-Are-Floating-Cities-a-Reality-08232011.html
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Where would they work?
Diesel powered? For only 270 residents? This is the worst idea ever. As though the ocean didn't have enough problems. If they are going to build floating cities, there are much better alternatives to diesel power.
How fast could a floating city move, anyway? Wind power (i.e. sailing), or solar-powered electric props. Of course, if it is large enough with enough on-board soil or if it is near a floating seaweed forest, they could potentially produce biofuels for the engines. Work? With satellite internet, most any information technology business could be run from a floating city. Investment analysts, cyber security analysts, etc. Lots of high-tech, high-paying jobs can be worked via the internet. Don't forget, something that big will have a lot of ongoing maintenance needed. So service personnel in the personal care, housekeeping, machinery maintenance, etc. will also be needed.
Floating cities?? So how do you prevent them from being destroyed in the huge storms, oil rigs are anchored. What about medical and all that important stuff, and how quick will you get bored of the same 270 people, what about entertainment? Is this even something we as humans should be doing?
Gives new meaning to "Off Shore -everything- " Sign me up how do I get there?
Agreed that diesel is a terrible idea. Being out at sea, they'd be surrounded by opportunities for transferring energy for the micro-country. Wind power would be a no brainer, solar cell window tinting could be applied to all of the windows, solar concentrators installed on all of the roof-tops, wave generators would gather energy from the waves beneath the city and double as dampers during harsh weather, kinetic sculptures could harvest energy in small parks...there are many applications for alternative energy. For these micro-cities to be a success, their number one goal must be self-sustainability. That would provide the backbone to test governments and political policies.
This is a horrible idea. Adding more weight to the water means taking away other beach properties on land. Why not just buy an island? This guy needs to go to ecology class so he can learn about the dangers of the environment.
I couldn't agree more
I am an ambassador for The Seasteading Institute, the organization that does the research on building permanent ocean colonies. It is unfortunate when source articles (the one in Details, in this example) are not fact checked, and inaccuracies are thus spread. The Seasteading Institute has no plans to build floating platforms powered by Diesel generators. Also, Peter Thiel does not currently plan to launch a flotilla office park. We have issued an official rebuttal of the Details article here: http://www.seasteading.org/blogs/main/2011/08/26/the-seasteading-institutes-position-recent-details-article Finally, the seasteading movement is more realistic than it's portrayed to be, and it will start with a sustainable business model on a shipstead: bringing jobs to Silicon Valley by legally hosting professionals without a US work visa in close proximity to the San Francisco Bay Area, on a vessel anchored 24 miles offshore, in international waters. This venture is being undertaken by a for-profit seasteading venture, Blueseed - http://blueseed.co