An artist's drawing of N-Ark's Dogen City (Credit: N-Ark.com)

Rising sea levels, fueled by global warming, are escalating at an alarming rate, putting coastal communities worldwide at risk. By 2050, experts predict that nearly 300 million people living in coastal areas will face annual flooding. Japan's N-Ark hopes to combat the impact of climate change with an innovative floating city.

Dogen City will measure roughly 1 mile (1.58 km) in diameter and about 2.5 miles (4 km) in circumference. The circular shape will protect inhabitants against tsunamis. The floating city will have a unique two-layer design. The top layer will house a self-sufficient maritime city. The second undersea layer will feature a sea-cooled data center for city management, healthcare, and drug discovery.

Dogen City will have two levels (Credit: N-Ark.com/ CC-BY-SA-4.0)

Dogen City will be able to accommodate 10,000 residents and up to 40,000 visitors at a time. The self-sufficient maritime city will feature food production facilities, schools, hospitals, sports areas, offices, and parks. New farming technology will enable residents to produce up to 7,000 tons of food annually using seawater.

Additionally, locals and visitors alike will have access to state-of-the-art health care assessments and medical care. The ambitious plan also includes a dedicated area to launch and land rockets for space tourism. The project's designers have set an ambitious target of completing Dogen City by 2030. However, key details such as the location and cost of the project remain undisclosed.

Dogen City is not the only floating city in the works. In 2022, the South Korean city of Busan also unveiled plans for a sustainable maritime metropolis. When built, it will be able to house up to 100,000 people.

Amsterdam's Schoonship neighborhood is a self-sustaining floating community (Credit: Schoonship Amsterdam/CC-BY-SA-4.0)

While these projects are still conceptual, the Netherlands has been home to a thriving floating community since 2021. The innovative Schoonship neighborhood consists of 46 homes across 30 water plots and is home to around 100 residents. Although relatively small, it is a promising model for building self-sufficient, eco-friendly floating cities.

Resources: newatlas.com, weforum.org, n-ark-jp