Lilypad cities that would be great for a Type 1

IT COULD be the solution to rising sea levels - a floating city for 50,000 people in the shape of a lily pad.

"Lilypad" is the brainchild of Belgian architect Vincent Callebaut.

"Lilypad is what a completely self-sufficient floating city for 50,000 people could look like," he said. "The design of the city is inspired by the shape of the great Amazonia Victoria Regia lily pad.

"Some countries spend billions of pounds working on making their beaches and dams bigger and stronger but the Lilypad project is actually a long-term solution to the problem of the water rising.

Mr Callebaut's computer-generated design is of an amphibious city without any roads or any cars. "The whole city is covered by plants housed in suspended gardens," he said. "The goal is to create a harmonious co-existence of humans and nature."

Mr Callebaut's solution would be to house all the refugees in the floating lily-pad cities. Each city has a lake at its centre to collect fresh water and uses solar, wind and wave power to create energy.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/environment/drift-around-the-world-on-a-hightech-lilypad-city/2008/07/12/1215658193654.html

These are pictures of how Lilypad cities would look.
http://www.inhabitat.com/2008/06/16/lilypad-floating-cities-in-the-age-of-global-warming/

Here's a video. It's not in English but the visuals are nice.