The £1,400,000,000 floating city that never got off the ground

When the government of Malaysia revealed their plans to build a futuristic island off the coast of Penang Island, they thought locals would be thrilled.

The ambitious designs featured self-driving public transport, canals lined with palm trees and sleek white buildings.

But the plans sparked huge controversy.

Local fishermen were angry that they hadn’t been consulted about the island, which threatened to kill the fish they depended on for their livelihoods, while environmental campaigners warned the so-called ‘eco-island’ would do more harm than good.

Here’s the story of how plans for a city of the future went wrong, and what’s happening with the island now.

A sci-fi island with big ambitions

In 2020, Danish architects BIG unveiled their plans for three artificial ‘lily pad’ islands off the coast of Penang Island.

Dubbed ‘BiodiverCity’, the architects proclaimed that they wanted to create a hub for nature alongside futuristic tech, such as self-driving cars.

They drew inspiration from the natural world and based their design for the interconnected manmade islands on lily pads. Colourful promotional images showed geometric white buildings and flower-filled roof gardens, with residents whizzzing along island canals on self-driving boats.

The first island was designed to be a civic centre housing government and research institutions, while the second was intended to be a central business district.

In the original plans, the third island was made up of floating houses. Up to 18,000 people could have lived between the three.

Designs for the islands, which were to be made from bamboo and ‘green concrete’, feature four kilometres of beaches and huge swathes of parks, as well as wildlife corridors to support biodiversity.

The architects behind the project said in 2020 that their dream had ‘a clear focus on livability, on stimulating a socially and economically inclusive development, and on environmental sustainability for future generations.’

The backlash begins

But the futuristic imaginings did not impress everyone.

Local fishermen said the plans would threaten their livelihoods, as construction work could impact local fish populations, and some experts have said the plans would damage marine ecology.

‘No one is listening to our cries. No one cares about us. We are left to fend for ourselves,’ one fisherman told the New Strait Times.

The fisherman said machinery in place to prepare the seabed for the island construction was already having an impact.

‘We can’t even cast our nets out near where the dredges are parked as the area has been cordoned off. And the area is where shrimps are aplenty,’ he said.

‘Penang South has a very beautiful ecosystem and scenery. So why does the Penang state government want to carry out this project?’ another fisherman told Sinar Daily.

Amid criticism from local and environmental groups, the Malaysian government was dealing with the fallout from another failed futuristic city in the south of the country.

Forest City, a £78 billion project intended to house one million people on reclaimed islands near the city of Johor Bahru, quickly turned into a ghost town.

Faced with mounting backlash, the government caved in to pressure. Then last year, they announced that they were scaling back the BiodiverCity project.

Instead of building three connected islands as originally planned, just one island, called Silicon Island, will be constructed.

The new version of the project comes with a £1.4 billion price tag and will still feature cutting-edge technology, futuristic transport and a ‘green tech park’.

Local fishermen will receive payments from the state to compensate for any impact the new island might have on their livelihoods.

Construction finally kicked off in 2023, and is estimated to take nine years to complete.

Floating cities around the world

The Malaysian project isn’t the only example of a manmade island.

A floating city in the Maldives is set to be completed by 2027.

It will be made out of concrete tubs and painted in bright colours to evoke the feel of a traditional fishing village.

While the Maldives is a popular luxury holiday destination, the floating city, which will be a 10-minute boat ride away from the country’s capital of Male, is intended for local residents who are struggling to find housing.

Rising sea levels caused by climate change threatens to submerge parts of the Maldives by 2100, which means that new solutions are needed to house the population.

The floating city would rise and fall with changing tides and would be able to cope with new weather conditions.

Similarly, Japan’s Dogen City is designed with rising sea levels in mind.

The ‘smart healthcare city’ could house 40,000.

The designs feature a set of mini islands surrounded by a protective ring which will contain water and sewage facilities.

The ring will have a walled outer edge to protect the city from tsunamis.

The plans also include an underwater data centre and medical research facility.

The designers hope that the city could even be self-sufficient and grow its own fruit and vegetables.

It could be completed as early as 2030.