OCEANIX Busan is a prototype of a resilient and sustainable floating community, with three platforms for lodging, research and living. We led the development of the overarching sustainability strategy, which was focused on a fair ecological footprint and the circularity and zero waste strategies.

Recognizing the threat of rising sea levels to many of the world’s cities, and understanding that the most common solutions of land reclamation and seawalls destroy protective natural ecosystem barriers, OCEANIX have developed a solution that works with nature rather than against it.  Situated just offshore, accessible by short bridges, the floating neighborhoods can rise with sea levels. OCEANIX is designed to meet humanity’s shelter, energy, material resources, water and food needs while regenerating marine ecosystems. Unlike many “net zero” developments, the goal of OCEANIX is to provide an affordable opportunity to live, visit or work within a fair ecological footprint. This goal meant that the project needed to consider many more factors than energy and water: such as transportation emissions, space efficiency, and the embodied carbon of building materials; as well as reducing consumption emissions through circular economy strategies and the provision of sustainable food. The project was also designed to increase biocapacity through the regeneration of ecosystems to clean the surrounding water.

Busan, located in the southeast tip of the Korean peninsula, is the second largest city of the Republic of Korea with a population of 3.4 million people. South Korea's southern coastline is considered especially vulnerable to the impact of rising sea levels, and the growing maritime industrial city of Busan is a natural choice to deploy the sustainable city prototype. OCEANIX is a blue technology company founded by Itai Madamombe and Marc Collins Chen in 2018 which designs and builds floating cities for people to live sustainably on the ocean. With a concept first introduced at the United Nations (UN)Roundtable held by UN-Habitat, OCEANIX, the MIT Center for Ocean Engineering, and the Explorer Club, OCEANIX Busan is designed as a prototype for the first sustainable floating city.

We led overall sustainability planning and circular and zero waste design for the 3-platform prototype in Busan, South Korea, which was presented to the UN in April 2022. The design team was led by Bjarke Ingels Group, and included Arup, Samoo, Transsolar KlimaEngineering, Mobility in Chain, Sherwood Design Engineers, and the Global Coral Reef Alliance.

The core strategies are to reduce and reuse food waste, eliminate single use packaging and incorporate circular economy strategies. By controlling the materials coming onto the island, designing systems for reusable packaging and sharing of durable goods, and tracking any waste produced, the waste stream can be dramatically reduced. We estimated a 90% reduction of most types of waste and a 30% reduction in food waste.

All organic waste is processed and reused within OCEANIX, at its highest and best use to grow food and regenerate soils. 

Personal items are leased from stores or borrowed from the exchange hub, which also includes a maker center for fixing and making things, and a sorting center to track all items that can’t be reused. Bulk goods and locally grown and processed food, are all packaged in reusable containers.

Zero Waste planning ties in to OCEANIX Busan’s Sustainable Systems, described below by OCEANIX:

The neighborhood is embedded with six integrated systems that generate energy needed on-site, treats and replenishes its own water, reduces and recycles resources, and provides innovative urban agriculture to fulfill a local plant-based diet. Pedestrian-friendly paths accommodate autonomous vehicles, replacing all fuel-based cars with electric and shared mobility, reducing carbon emissions, and promoting a healthy lifestyle. The platforms provide regenerative living surfaces creating habitats that filter and clean polluted port water. Each platform has three performative petals, which are edges that provide access to the water, regenerate habitat, and provide seating and gathering spaces facing the waterfront.