Japan’s Floating City – The Future of Urban Planning?

As sea levels rise around the world, architects and engineers look for alternatives to traditional designs for those living on the coasts. In Japan, N-Ark is working on plans to build Dogen City, a floating city less affected by the rising waters. It won’t be the first of its kind, however. Though N-Ark’s project is much larger, the Netherlands built a city named Schoonschip that houses about 100 people and has operated successfully since 2020.

The N-Ark – Dogen City

A Japanese start-up, N-Ark, is developing a plan to create and build a floating city atop the ocean waters with an ambitious completion date of 2030. The buoyant community, called Dogen City, will house about 10,000 occupants and allow approximately 40,000 visitors. The developers have designed it to be an intelligent floating community complete with homes, healthcare facilities, schools, parks, hotels, stores, and stadiums.

The city will be about one mile in diameter and around 2.5 miles in circumference. The round design is meant to protect residents against tsunamis. Innovative structures on top of the water will provide shelter against other natural disasters. The city will have two levels. One above the water and the other submerged. The top level will contain living spaces, recreational areas, hotels, and other buildings. Below the surface will be a state-of-the-art sea-cooled healthcare and drug analysis data center along with city management facilities.

The infrastructure will not be restrained, meaning it can freely drift in the inner bays, allowing for easy reconfiguration of urban functions. The primary focus of the floating city is to combat the constantly increasing water levels due to global warming. Experts believe that the more than 300 million coastline residents worldwide will face immense flooding over the years. This groundbreaking idea could be a solution.

The maritime city will also be self-sufficient, with the ability to create over 7,000 tons of food each year using seawater.

The First of Its Kind?

While the technological advancements in Dogen City are impressive, the N-Ark project won’t be the first to exist. Schoonschip is the name of a nautical town in the Netherlands that has operated successfully for several years. The modern city was designed and built by its own inhabitants, and there are currently about 145 people living there. Thirty arks contain 46 households, some that are attached and others that are not. Solar panels and heat pumps create enough energy to heat the homes and generate electricity for all the households. The close-knit community enjoys the freedoms and possibilities of living in a maritime city. Resident and sustainable engineer Matthijs Bourdrez commented, “I really look forward to all the possibilities that living at Schoonschip will provide. I promise: to live sustainably is a great kick. Think about driving electric cars or taking a shower knowing that the water is recycled. And [sic] no monthly energy bill”!

The success rate of floating cities is gathering attention. Busan, a South Korean city, announced in 2022 plans to begin construction on a maritime metropolis of its own. They hope to house around 100,000 people once the city is complete. Are floating cities the new trend for coastal dwellers?