Floating City

Floating City

For five years, The Seasteading Institute has been conducting research into the potential for permanent, innovative communities – floating at sea. We are now able to apply this foundation of knowledge and our network towards an actual design, along with additional efforts to determine specific needs and desires of potential customers, and to select a practical location for what could become the world’s first city at sea.

Phase I

The Floating City Project combines principles of both seasteading and startup cities, by seeking to locate a floating city within the territorial waters of an existing nation. Historically, The Seasteading Institute has looked to international waters for the freedom to establish new nations and spur competitive governance from the outside. However, there are several reasons we are now seeking a host nation: a) It is less expensive to engineer a seastead for relatively calm, shallow waters compared with the open ocean outside of territorial waters; b) it will be easier for residents to travel to and from the seastead, as well as to acquire goods and services from existing supply chains; and c) a host nation will provide a place for a floating city within the existing international legal framework, with the associated protections and responsibilities.

Phase II

We closed 2014 by taking a delegation of architects and engineers to an undisclosed location where we hope to locate the first floating city in the sea nearby. We believe there could be a market on our floating city for residences, tourism, aquaculture, a business park, a research institute, and a powerplant to sell energy and clean water back to the host nation.

If we create jobs for local residents, government officials indicated a willingness to allow us substantial political autonomy. We are in the process of drafting a legal agreement to present to the host nation, which would be overseen by a third-party arbitrator. Assuming we close an agreement securing some autonomy, we will reveal the location and host a conference there to invite investors, potential residents and developers to survey the lucrative opportunities.

To learn more details about our progress on Phase II, please read a report the Fact-finding & Diplomatic Floating City Project Mission by our Executive Director Randolph Hencken.

In the mean time, we are advancing on all four aspects of Phase II in consultation with experts. These include:

1. enhancing our novel seastead designs, which includes wave tank testing and acquiring more detailed financial calculations;
2. deepening our diplomatic negotiations with several potential host nations;
3. collecting potential resident feedback;
4. prospecting investors. Be sure to sign up for our newsletter so you can keep up to date as the project progresses.

Phase III: French Polynesia

On January 13, 2017, we entered Phase 3 of the Floating City Project, now called the Floating Island Project. 

On that day, delegates from the government of French Polynesia travelled to San Francisco to sign a Memorandum of Understanding with us agreeing to cooperate on developing legislation for The Floating Island Project by the end of 2017. The MOU obligates The Seasteading Institute to conduct an economic analysis to demonstrate the economic benefits for French Polynesia, as well as an environmental assessment to assure the health of the ocean and seabed. When these studies are complete, French Polynesia will collaborate with The Seasteading Institute to develop a “special governing framework” for a land base and sea zone.