After Thai navy raids seastead here are five more floating cities

Floating cities are built for a number of reasons, from addressing housing shortages to combating the threat of rising sea levels

Some have official support; others do not. Here are five floating cities that have been planned, built or demolished around the world

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Oceanix City was supported by the United Nations as a sustainable floating city. Photo: courtesy Oceanix

Published: 9:30pm, 26 Apr 2019Updated: 11:28am, 30 Apr 2019

Thai national Supranee Thepdet and her American boyfriend Chad Elwartowski are on the run from the Thai authorities after setting up a floating home 14 nautical miles off Phuket island. The couple lived in the cabin, funded and built by Ocean Builders for two months before Thai navy raided the structure on April 13. They are part of what is known as the seasteading movement, building floating communities in international waters as a way to explore alternative societies and governments.

Here are five other floating cities, seasteading or otherwise, that have been planned, built or demolished around the world.

Floating Island Project

The Seasteading Institute, which also promoted Supranee and Elwartowski’s floating home, claimed to be a non-profit think tank advocating the creation of floating ocean cities as a revolutionary solution to some of the world’s most pressing problems, including rising sea levels, overpopulation and poor governance.

The organisation received backing from PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel and started a project named the Floating Island Project.