An Integrated Floating Community Based upon a Hybrid Water System – Toward a Super-Sustainable Water City

Abstract – Over the next century or two, rising sea levels and the increased frequency of extensive natural disasters caused by global climate change will bring about serious problems. Such problems are especially foreseen in lower-lying coastal and riverside areas, located below sea level. The steel barge-type floating foundations were chosen for our research because of their outstanding performance in the Mega-float project which had been conducted by the Mega-float Technological Research Association of Japan during the 1990s. A 1,000m-long floating structure was constructed under this project for siting an airport complex thereon, with many parts of the smaller floating modular units being welded together at sea using a newly-developed method. Now, our concept is of realizing a new waterfront – developed by excavating the soil in a low-lying ground to create an overall area few meters below the surface level, then flooded to produce an artificial reservoir. The foundations for an urban community are subsequently set afloat upon the artificial reservoir, with buildings and other facilities being constructed on these floating foundations, in a manner similar to the Mega-float project idea. On the other hand, the construction of substantial sustainable cities not only capable of withstanding global environmental disasters but also simultaneously producing minimum burden on the environment is needed. And to realize a truly sustainable city, we should be mindful of the fact that a multi-water supply system will become more efficient, economical and safe for cities compared with the present status dependent upon a single water supply system. Our paper “A new concept for the safety of low-lying land areas from natural disasters” was therefore selected as one of the 100 top papers from among all papers published by Springer-Nature in 2015 as a ground-breaking paper that could help humanity while protecting and preserving our planet, under the theme of Change the World, One Article at a Time.