SEA YOU THERE
Inside stunning plans for world’s first floating city for 20,000 people where seafront villa costs less than London home
The city will be tethered to the lagoon floor to keep them from drifting away
CONSTRUCTION on the world's first ever floating city is underway in the Maldives with over 20,000 people expected to move in to the seafront properties soon.
The incredible Maldives Floating City is finally being built after years of planning with several of the wildly cheap homes already up on the island city.
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Five thousand homes are expected to go up on sale in the coming months at just under £200,000 for a constant view of paradise - miles cheaper than a London home.
The developers are looking for a mixture of residents to be among the first to call it home.
They want to appeal to "local fishing families who, for centuries, have called the area home" but also tourists from across the world looking to wake up by the ocean every morning.
Satellite images obtained by Newsweek show construction has already started.
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New residents are expected to be able to get their dream move by 2027 if progress continues being made.
Plans are set to see the project wildly expanded to reach up to 500 acres when it is finished with concept pictures already showing potential buyers what to expect.
Schools, businesses, hotels, bars and restaurants are all thought to be getting included soon.
Heaps of sandy beaches will also be getting added to make it feel like the ultimate resort.
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The floating paradise sits alone out in the Indian Ocean with nothing but water surrounding it.
At the moment, the only way to access the floating city is by a boat on a journey that will take up to 15 minutes from the capital of Male.
Cars are strictly banned from the island and are set to be replaced by boats that can seamlessly transport people from the island to the mainland and back.
Inside the most expensive Maldives hotel resort with floating villas and rooms that cost £8
Bikes and electric buggies are also going to be a mainstay of the island looking to revolutionise life on the open water.
The floating city has been created by Dutch Docklands and Maldivian island government.
One of the most fascinating design points - outside of the fact it floats - is the way the homes will be laid out to resemble "brain coral".
When all the buildings are laid out it will look like a hexagonal grid on top of the glistening ocean waters.
There will also be a connecting outer ring of barrier islands to act as a safety net through breakers, according to Waterstudio.
The island government say on their website: "The city has a nature-based structure of roads and water canals resembling the beautiful and efficient way in which real brain coral is organised."
The homes and roads will all be tethered to the lagoon floor to keep them from drifting away.
Initially, the first movers were expected by the end of the year but a three-year delay has been placed on the project.
Koen Olthuis, the lead architect on the project, told Newsweek the delay has been caused by politics and economics.
He said they were trying to match "some political way between Indian and Chinese-oriented economic interests" but the construction phase is now "full-steam ahead".
Despite the issues, the homes will still be almost a third of the price of an average London family home at £566,000, according to Rightmove.
Mohamed Nasheed, former president of the Maldives and supporter of the project described it as sustainable and innovative.
He said: "In the Maldives we cannot stop the waves, but we can rise with them."
Other countries are also looking into creating their own floating cities.
The Oceanix Busan community would be built on water in Busan in South Korea, with restaurants, winter garden and space for 12,000 residents.
And Dubai's Heart of Europe islands are a cluster of man-made islands off the coast of the city, with six islands connected by bridge.
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Also in Dubai is a new floating hotel where the luxury villas can turn into boats.
If you fancy something closer to home, then you can soon head to a £35m floating resort planned for Norfolk which has 132 lodges, a kids playground and water sports centre.
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