Islands: Seasteading or Man-made?

The Seastead Institute

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Table of Content
Abstract ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3
What is the Cost of Owning an Island? ---------------------------------------------------------------- 3
Buying and maintaining an island ------------------------------------------------------------- 3
Man-made islands -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4
The issues with these islands ------------------------------------------------------------------ 4
The Alternative to Islands: Floating Cities ------------------------------------------------------------ 5
The Future of Seasteading -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5
The design of floating cities -------------------------------------------------------------------- 5
Problems mitigated with floating cities ----------------------------------------------------- 6
Current development of seasteading -------------------------------------------------------- 7
Conclusion ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8
References ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9

Table of Figure
Figure 1 – Palm Jumeirah --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4
Figure 2 – Aerial View of Joyxee Island ---------------------------------------------------------------- 5
Figure 3 – The First Seastead ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5
Figure 4 – Oceanix Sustainability Graphic ------------------------------------------------------------ 6
Figure 5 – Blue Frontier Concept Art ------------------------------------------------------------------ 7

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Abstract
There are many things that go into purchasing and maintaining an island. It is not just the huge
amount of money needed but also the regulations of the nation states of where the island is
located. There are environmental concerns when developing the island such as the existing
habitat on the land and the surrounding aquatic habitats. There is also the global concern of
rising sea level, causing irreversible damage to coastal regions and shrinking islands until they
are under water. Thus, the best alternative to stationary islands would be creating floating
cities on the ocean surface with sustainable facilities and housing, a movement known as
seasteading. These floating cities are built with lightweight materials to stay afloat on the water
and are akin to aircraft carriers, but with plants and amenities for the people to live there. It not
only solves the issue of the rising sea level, but also opens a path for people to populate the
water instead of being limited to land.

What is the Cost of Owning an Island?

Buying and maintaining an island
Buying an island requires a large amount of funds as well as connections with brokers and
private sellers to find a desirable island. Then there is an added cost of developing the island,
from shipping building materials to the island to building facilities on the island for sustainable
living conditions. The type of facilities that can provide power, produce food and regulate all
the waste from the inhabitants. After building the structures, is maintaining the environment
and facilities on the island, from discovering what kind of creatures and plants are on the island
to the marine ecology surrounding the island. This can cost from 10 million to 500 million in
purchasing a well-located island with desirable environments, developing the island in an
ecofriendly way, and maintaining the environment around the island.

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Man-made islands
Instead of trying to go through the lengthy process of buying and maintaining an island, why
not create an island? That is easier said than done, as there has been many attempts of man-
made islands. Some attempts of creating man-made islands are successful in that they can
house a single family to 10 thousand people, such as the Palm Jumeirah shown below.

Figure 1. Aerial view of Palm Jumeirah in 2012. (2, Schneider, 2012)

However, creating man-made islands is a huge expenditure and has negative impacts to the
environment in both the short term and the long run. One of the short-term impacts is the loss
of marine ecology near the created island due to the make of island being loose soil, which can
be easily eroded away by the constant ocean waves. One of the long run impacts are the
changes in the shorelines of the mainland, due to the island placed in front of the shoreline. In
addition, the desertification of any areas nearby the mining site due to the loss of soil that is
used to create the island. (11, Wikipedia)

The issues with these islands

Financial expenses and environmental concerns are not the only issues with stationary islands,
its location in the world can be a problem. If the island is too close to a nation mainland, that
nation could deem the island as a threat to its border, force any inhabitants out, and tear down
all the facilities on the island. (10, Hunter, 2019) On the other hand, they can seize the island for
development reasons to build bridges across the waters. If the island were located further
away, there would be the concern of a storm coming along and leaving the inhabitant stranded
with no nearby connection to the mainland. That is not all, there is also the global concern of
rising sea level and its effects can be devastating to islands. Each year the sea level rises with no
signs of stopping or falling, thus islands can become smaller or disappear with everything on it.

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The Alternative to Islands: Floating Cities
How can people live their tropical island life without having to worry about all those problems?
By investing their large capital towards the development of floating cities. There are concept
designs in progress by many seastead organizations and designers looking towards
sustainability at sea. Some examples of these organizations is the Seastead Institute, Ocean
Builder, Oceanix and many more. Moreover, there are examples of such cities but at a smaller
scale, housing a single family. One of them is Joyxee Island, an island that is made entirely out
of empty plastic bottles with mangroves and a house resting on top. (4, Rose, 2017) The owner
has created a sustainable home in the 11 years that he lived there. In recent news, Ocean
Builders have successfully constructed a seastead 14 miles away from Thailand, which has been
occupied by a couple who wanted to live life at sea. (3, elwar, 2019)

Figure 2. Aerial View of Joyxee Island. (4, Rose, 2017)

Figure 3. The First Seastead. (3, elwar, 2019)

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The Future of Seasteading
The design of floating cities
The people residing in these floating cities, will be living their lives out at sea; therefore, the
cities will have to provide energy, produce food, and treat waste. These designs have to adhere
to sustainability, such as one of the graphic shown below by Oceanix. The designs also have to
make sure that the sustainable cities can actually float and enjoyable for the people living
there. In which, the cities will be made with lightweight materials, such as bamboo and wood
to create a warm environment. On top will be where the housing be placing alongside with any
amenities and at the bottom will be the storage and facilities. (1, Ingels, 2019)

Figure 4. Oceanix Sustainability Graphic. (7, “Media.”, 2019)

The cities are designed in a way for people to grow their own food, such as crops from available
land on the city and fish farms below the city. It is able to take in natural resources, such as
rainwater and seawater into usable water for farming or human uses. It can produce clean
energy with solar panels, wind turbines, and ocean current generators. In addition, reuse waste
to help grow food or produce energy. (1, Ingels, 2019)

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Problems mitigated with floating cities
By living on these floating cities, people can have their island-like lifestyle without the worries
of the rising sea level for years to come. This can also help provide more places for people to
live, as there may not be any more room for development on land. Since these cities can float,
there is no concern of environmental destruction or moving land from inside the nation to the
coastal area. In fact, due to the fish farm that is underneath the city, it can form its own marine
ecology. (1, Ingels, 2019) Thus, without having to spend over 100 million dollars in purchasing
and maintaining an island, people can buy or rent a house on these floating cities for a
comparable price of an average American home.

Current development of seasteading

There are several organizations that are developing these floating cities. One of them being
Ocean Builders that created the first seastead to be occupied by a couple. (3, elwar, 2019)
There is the Seastead Institute that help spur on companies that wish to develop seasteads by
providing the resources and guidance they may need. Blue frontier is considered a branch of
the Seastead Institute and it is currently developing their own project since 2017 shown below.
In addition, Oceanix, a visionary approach with a sustainable design that the U.N. is pushing on
their agenda. (8, Mohammed, 2019)

Figure 5. Blue Frontier Concept Art. (9, “Blue Frontiers.”, 2017)

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Conclusion
With the growing concern about the rising sea level and their negative impacts on islands and
coastal regions, there needs to be a plan to prevent the loss of people homes. Spending a large
amount of funds to move dirt and stone deep inside the nation to the coastal area to expand
the amount of space that people can live on is not practical. This not only has negative impacts
on where those dirt and stone are taken from the surrounding area, but it can damage the
aquatic habitats in the coastal area where the man-made islands are created.

The Earth has two thirds of its surface covered with water, so the better plan might be to
expand where humans can live. Thus, organizations have been appearing with the promise of
allowing people to live a life out at sea with floating cities, known as seasteading. This will not
only solve the issue of rising sea levels, but also helps improve the marine ecology rather than
damage it. These floating cities can be fully sustainable with the technology available today,
from producing clean energy to reusing waste to grow food. The sea can be the new frontier for
humans to colonize and with several organizations appearing with seastead projects, there is no
reason to not look forward to a life out at sea.

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References
1. Ingels, Bjarke. “Floating Cities, the LEGO House and Other Architectural Forms of the
Future | Bjarke Ingels.” YouTube, TED Talk, 1 July 2019,
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ieSV8-isy3M.

2. Schneider, Richard. “Dubai Wingsuit Flying Trip.” Flickr, Yahoo!, 22 July 2012,
flic.kr/p/cBELNy.

3. elwar. “First Seastead Has Been Set up in International Waters.” Ocean Builders, 4 Feb.
2019, ocean.builders/first-seastead-has-been-set-up-in-international-waters/.

4. Rose, Christine Helen. “Joyxee Island.” Edited by SV Karmal, Atlas Obscura, Atlas
Obscura, 6 Nov. 2017, www.atlasobscura.com/places/joyxee-island.

5. “Palm Jumeirah.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 7 July 2019,

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palm_Jumeirah.

6. Hammond, George. “The Beginner's Guide to Buying a Private Island.” Financial Times,
Financial Times, 1 Mar. 2019, www.ft.com/content/02ff6a70-36cf-11e9-bd3a-
8b2a211d90d5.

7. “Media.” Oceanix, 4 Apr. 2019, oceanix.org/media/.

8. Mohammed, Amina. “Sustainable Floating Cities Can Offer Solutions to Climate Change
Threats Facing Urban Areas, Deputy Secretary-General Tells First High-Level Meeting |
Meetings Coverage and Press Releases.” United Nations, United Nations, 3 Apr. 2019,
www.un.org/press/en/2019/dsgsm1269.doc.htm.

9. “Blue Frontiers.” Blue Frontiers, 12 Dec. 2017, www.blue-frontiers.com/en/assets.

10. Hunter, Brittany. “The World's First Seasteaders Are Now on the Run for Their Lives:
Brittany Hunter.” FEE Freeman Article, Foundation for Economic Education, 8 May 2019,
fee.org/articles/the-world-s-first-seasteaders-are-now-on-the-run-for-their-lives/.

11. “Artificial Island.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 4 July 2019,

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artificial_island#cite_note-14.