Futuristic concept sees humans living in mini floating cities in the Pacific

LONDON - A Japanese technology firm has come up with a concept that sees humans in the future living in giant skyscrapers on floating water lilies in the middle of the Pacific.

Technology firm Shimizu came up with the new concept, which has been designed as a way of harnessing green technologies and creating carbon-neutral cities, the Daily Mail reported.

The Green Float concept involves a number of cells, each one kilometre wide, and will house between 10,000 and 50,000 people, surrounded by lush green fields.

The central towers would be surrounded by grassland and forests and be self-sufficient in terms of food, while livestock and other farming would take place in “plains” also surrounding the tower - all built on a lattice of 7,000-tonne honeycomb pontoons.

The towers would be built from super-light alloys with the metal deriving from magnesium in seawater.

The imaginative plan is designed to create a future carbon-neutral society and the Shimizu developers claim that living on cells in this way would cut carbon emissions by 40 percent.

The cells would create zero waste and recycle every product and covert waste into energy using new green technologies. Islands of waste would drift around the ocean and could be ‘harvested’ to provide energy

Each group of cells would be near the equator where the climate is at its most stable and a range of technologies would be used to protect the floating cities from tidal waves and extreme weather.

To protect the inhabitants from large waves, strong elastic membranes would be attached to the lagoons around the outer edge of the cells, with the shallows above the membranes standing 30 feet above sea level.

Lightning rods would be fitted around the circumference of the towers and mesh lightning conductors will be placed on the exterior walls to protect against lightning strikes.

Shimizu wants to develop the first cells by 2025 and is concentrating on developing the technologies to make it happen.

The concept was displayed at a recent Japanese university conference. (ANI)