The visionary inventors of the Land of the Rising Sun are working on a project that seems straight out of a science fiction film. It's called Dogen City, and it's not a new skyscraper, nor a technology park. It is an entire habitat, a floating city designed to accommodate up to 40.000 people and become a sort of “Noah's Ark” of the future.
A self-sufficient shelter
The company behind all this, N-Ark, states not without emphasis that this floating city could even resist an apocalypse. Dogen City, which will measure 4 kilometers in circumference, will have an internal organization that will allow inhabitants to reach any point in the area within an hour.
But what exactly would this floating city contain? Well, think of a mix between a village and a futuristic metropolis: Dogen City will have everything from sports fields to housing facilities. A mega structure capable, if necessary, of moving by navigation to another location.
A design that defies nature
The design of Dogen City is based on a circular structure designed to withstand extreme weather conditions. The floating city will consist of three types of structures. Which?
A habitable ring which creates a bay and protects the city from tsunamis. The ring is layered, with food and infrastructure located beneath the habitable zones. Inside the ring, the floating architecture allows the reconfiguration of space according to urban functions.
It is located below sea level a data center high-tech cooled by the ocean. The center houses the city's operating system, as well as much of its medical services. A health city within a city, a DNA bank, a medical research center, surgical and testing facilities: all underwater. This will keep energy costs low, allowing for efficient use of space
Complete the picture a whole series of flexible structures who will be able to move freely in the internal bay according to the needs of the population.
Floating city, when will it be ready?
According to N-Ark's development plan, the city is expected to be completed by 2030. By then, the developers plan to build six essentials (medical, food, housing, information, electrical services) to be gradually expanded.
There are still many unknowns about how such a floating city could be built and maintained over time. Nonetheless, projects like Dogen City represent important attempts to think about how societies might adapt to ongoing climate change and related challenges, first and foremost sea level rise.
Banzai!
