Living with water

The future

Since the 1990s, sea levels have risen from 1.7mm to 3mm per year. Coastlines around the world are sinking and disappearing as wave energy is eroding our shorelines. 

Many important cities and towns with economic strengths and trade are situated near coastal areas. These cities are a part of a nation's identity.

The video below has documented on how New York City will be affected by the rising sea levels and the defences the city can implement to overcome this.

So............. what can we do on the long-term for the coastal cities to overcome the inevitably rising seas?

A gathering held by the civil engineers in 2009 brought together a number of professional architectures, civilian engineers, city designers, planners, developers, policymakers, ecologists and furtherlogists to produce both architectural and infrastructural solutions in response to rising sea levels.

The professionals came up with a few suggestions

•    Land reclamation

This is practiced around the world. Netherlands, Hong Kong, Dubai, New York and San Francisco are amongst a few countries that land reclamation is being carried out to create more disposable places.

•   Building on stilts

The method allows space below to be used for car parking while above residents and property are safe from flooding. 

•     To build directly onto water
•   Floating/amphibious homes built on concrete floating bodies.

The best of the best............. in my eyes............

•  Sea scrapers

    This eco-friendly floating city is a futuristic offshore settlement site.

• Waterscraper

This structure has under and above water living space with a stabilizing floating ring that drifts the waterscraper from place to place. This complex comprises of beaches, restaurants, a marina, luxury apartments and hotels.

These ideas are welcomed as solutions for the battles of rising sea levels and ever increasing world population.

For certain, the above creations will not only give planet earth a new look but also transform our     cultures to fit in into this new water world...........

      So, what strategy would you like to consider the best for our coast lines?

•      Retreat?
•      Defend?
•      Attack?

     Friends............ this is sadly my last post on this topic. Even though I was initially reluctant to blog, I quite enjoyed the experience. Hence, I would like to thank my lecturer Dr Anson Mackay for making the ‘blog’ as course assessment criteria.

    Trust you my followers enjoyed, gained ideas and knowledge as much as I did.........