It is estimated that nine of the ten largest cities in the world will be victim of rising seas by 2050. Due to the effects of anthropogenic action on the climate, in fact, even if we manage to limit global warming, the sea level will be destined to rise – so much so that some atolls in the Pacific Ocean are already disappearing. For this reason, designers and engineers have been trying for years to develop technologies for living on the water.

Supported by "UN-Habitat" – the United Nations (UN) program for human settlements with the task of promoting sustainable urbanization both from a social and environmental point of view – Oceanix City, designed by BIG, will be the first infrastructure in the world to develop a technology to live on water without impacting and further destroying marine ecosystems: a floating city made up of many hexagonal platforms, built off the coast of the city of Busan, South Korea.

With an extension of 75 hectares and able to host up to 10 thousand people, Oceanix City in addition to being sustainable will also be self-sufficient: it will generate electricity thanks to solar and photovoltaic panels placed on the buildings roofs and will produce the food and fresh water needed by its inhabitants. The city, anchored to the seafloor, was also designed to withstand floods, tsunamis and Category 5 hurricanes on the Saffir-Simpson scale.