Floating cities

How far are we from floating cities?

A floating city is a settlement whose homes and public services stand on buoyant structures, moored to a site. A 2026 systematic review covers the design, hydrostatics and stability of floating housing. Two city-scale projects are at different stages: OCEANIX Busan was unveiled as a design in 2022, and the Maldives Floating City is a developer-led plan near Malé. The sources opened for this record do not show a complete, occupied settlement with working water, sewage, power and emergency services.

AI illustration · Illustrative scene, not a photograph of the specific device or experiment.
WHERE WE AREScience demonstrated

Far away. The science works, but nobody has built a working system yet.

The 2026 systematic review covers floating housing design, hydrostatics and stability across 34 studies. The sources opened describe the engineering questions for larger systems. No source opened shows a city-scale floating settlement that is complete, occupied and connected to commissioned utilities. The stage applies to floating housing research in general. It does not mean a floating city has been demonstrated.

The tech tree

Everything recorded on Vrulum that this future needs, oldest foundations at the top and the goal at the bottom. Lines show what each step requires.

What it takes: Floating cities Unlocked Being researched Locked
  1. 2014Self-monitoring infrastructurePilot and early commercial Unlocked.
  1. 2022Municipal partnership for a Maldives floating city signedDone Unlocked.
  2. 2022OCEANIX Busan prototype unveiled as a designDone Unlocked.
  3. 2025Busan implementation forum heldIn progress Being researched.
  4. Date not recordedFloating housing design and stability reviewedDone Unlocked.
  5. Date not recordedMaldives Floating City developer planIn progress Being researched.
  6. Date not recordedOccupied floating homes connected to commissioned utilitiesNot started Locked.
  7. Date not recordedIndependent environmental and performance evidenceNot started Locked.
  8. Date not recordedSettled rules for title, insurance and emergency responseNot started Locked.
  1. GoalFloating citiesGoalRequires: Self-monitoring infrastructure, Floating housing design and stability reviewed, Municipal partnership for a Maldives floating city signed, OCEANIX Busan prototype unveiled as a design, Busan implementation forum held, Maldives Floating City developer plan, Occupied floating homes connected to commissioned utilities, Independent environmental and performance evidence, Settled rules for title, insurance and emergency response. Locked.

The road so far

3 of 8 steps done, 2 in progress.

  1. DoneFloating housing design and stability reviewed

    A 2026 systematic review of 34 studies covers design platforms, hydrostatics and stability for floating and amphibious housing. Its scope is housing, not city-scale settlements, so it does not validate a floating city. [1]

  2. Done · 30 Mar 2022Municipal partnership for a Maldives floating city signed

    Malé City Council and Dutch Docklands International signed a memorandum of understanding on 30 March 2022. It aimed to identify business-based approaches to the city's housing shortage and made the council a partner in the Maldives Floating City project. This is a partnership record, not evidence of construction. [2]

  3. Done · 26 Apr 2022OCEANIX Busan prototype unveiled as a design

    UN-Habitat and partners unveiled the design on 26 April 2022. It describes three interconnected platforms on 6.3 hectares, with an initial community planned for 12,000 people. The page is written in future tense, so it is a design intention, not measured performance from a built community. [3]

  4. In progress · 17 Dec 2025Busan implementation forum held

    Busan Metropolitan City held its third Floating Smart City Forum on 17 December 2025, covering mooring, renewable energy and modular platforms. The city said it would further concretise its implementation strategy. The announcement does not describe an inhabited prototype or a construction milestone. [4]

  5. In progressMaldives Floating City developer plan

    The developer describes a lagoon of over 200 hectares with several thousand floating homes, plus mixed uses and planned coral habitat. A 15 January 2025 Presidency article mentions the project but reports no construction progress. The developer website gives no construction phases, completion dates or counts of completed homes, and the sources opened do not confirm construction progress. [5][6]

  6. Not startedOccupied floating homes connected to commissioned utilities

    No source opened shows occupied floating homes in Busan or the Maldives connected to commissioned water, power, sewage and emergency services.

  7. Not startedIndependent environmental and performance evidence

    No source opened includes an independent environmental assessment, structural inspection or storm-performance record for a city-scale floating settlement.

  8. Not startedSettled rules for title, insurance and emergency response

    The sources opened do not show agreed rules for property title, mortgages, insurance, public access, mooring rights or emergency responsibility for a floating settlement.

Why it matters

Coastal cities need more housing and some are looking at water as well as land. A floating district has to work as a place people live in every day, with safe access to land, clean water, sanitation, power and emergency services. Keeping designs, approvals, construction and occupied homes apart stops renderings being read as evidence of a working city.

What stands in the way

  • Storms and waves: none of the sources opened report storm-performance records for a city-scale floating settlement.
  • Joints and shore connections: the sources opened do not describe how walkways, bridges, pipes and cables would perform at the shore.
  • Water and sanitation: the sources opened do not describe water supply, sewage treatment or outfall monitoring for either project.
  • Environmental baselines: floating structures shade water and seabed and can change ecology. The sources opened do not include a city-scale environmental assessment.
  • Governance and tenure: legal rules for title, mooring rights, insurance, public access and emergency jurisdiction are not settled in the sources reviewed.
  • Independent verification: the developer and municipal sources do not establish how many homes are complete, occupied or working.

Signals to watch

  • Maldives Floating City: independently verified completed and occupied homes, utility commissioning and storm performance.
  • Busan implementation: site, updated feasibility study, permits, funding, procurement and construction milestones.
  • Open-water tests of platforms, moorings, joints and utility connections under realistic loads.
  • Water and wastewater systems: supply, energy use, outfall quality and maintenance events, published over time.
  • Independently monitored seabed, water and marine-life baselines and follow-up studies.
  • Legal frameworks for building safety, title, insurance, public access and emergency response.
  • Published prices, tenure mix, public facilities and effects on local fishing and port livelihoods.
  • Lifecycle cost and emissions comparisons with land-based options, using matching assumptions.
  • Smaller floating buildings and utility platforms with multi-year, transferable maintenance records.

Sources

  1. review article
    Floating house for climate resilience: A systematic review of design platforms, hydrostatics, and stability
    Eko Sasmito Hadi, Untung Budiarto, Samuel et al.. Maritime Technology and Research, 8 Jul 2026.
  2. government report
    Male' City Council enters into an MoU with Dutch Docklands International
    Malé City Council, 30 Mar 2022.
  3. news
    UN-Habitat and partners unveil OCEANIX Busan, the world's first prototype floating city
    UN-Habitat, 26 Apr 2022.
  4. government report
    Busan Metropolitan City to Host the 3rd Floating Smart City Forum to Explore a Sustainable Urban Model
    Busan Metropolitan City, 16 Dec 2025.
  5. company announcement
    Maldives Floating City
    Maldives Floating City (Dutch Docklands), 2021.
  6. government report
    The President engages in discussions at Luncheon hosted by Mayor of Tartu
    Office of the President of the Maldives, 15 Jan 2025.

Last reviewed 21 Oct 2026.