Floating Cities as an Innovative Response to Climate Change

Sea levels are rising due to climate change. Many coastal cities are at growing risk of flooding. Architects are trying to react to this development with new ideas, such as floating cities. But this concept is not without its problems.

Architect Koen Olthuis is constructing a floating city in the Maldives, sustainably cooled with sea water. In the Netherlands, Sacha and Jan live in a waterborne section of the Steigereiland neighborhood. It's based on a complicated feat of engineering - but also depends on cooperation and solidarity. If one home is too heavy, it raises the one next door. Yet Sacha and Jan like its collaborative nature. The residents of the floating neighborhood all love living by the water, not far from the heart of Amsterdam.

In Germany, a University of Kiel project goes even further. Biologist Martina Mühl is researching the possibility of implementing aquaculture very close to home, so residents can tap their own fresh local supply of fish and seafood.

Hamburg and Bremen have been responding to rising tides by constructing ever higher levees. But soon even this will no longer be enough to cope with the growing impact of climate change. This documentary shows possible alternatives to levees and how we might be able to cope with the rising sea levels in the future.