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How long real state prices can keep climbing before people are forced to start colonizing seas or lakes like this?
by Qem 2y ago
How long real state prices can keep climbing before people are forced to start colonizing seas or lakes like this?
- christophilus 2y agoThese will never be economical. Waterworld will always be sci-fi, unfortunately.
- zemvpferreira 2y agoCities ocuppy maybe 0.5% of available land, if you’re generous. We’re not wanting for solid ground.
- Cthulhu_ 2y agoGlobally no, but locally yes; the Netherlands famously turned a sea inlet into a lake, then reclaimed a province from that lake: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flevoland https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flevoland. The tradeoff is between urbanization (think Singapore) vs nature vs agriculture. The Netherands doesn't want or isn't ready for building tall yet, for some reason.
- bastawhiz 2y agoThe Netherlands undertook that project for flood protection and to increase land for agriculture. You can't exactly do that on oil platforms.
- justsomehnguy 2y ago> The Netherands doesn't want or isn't ready for building tall yet, for some reason. >> Population • 9 November 2024 estimate Neutral increase 18,212,400[7] (69th) • 2011 census 16,655,799[8] • Density 520/km2 (1,346.8/sq mi) (33rd) Compare with Singapore: >> Density 7,804/km2 (20,212.3/sq mi) (2nd)
- ywvcbk 2y agoBy the same measurement there are no skyscrapers in the US and everyone lives in farmsteads because the average population density just 38/km2? Singapore is ~56x smaller than the Netherlands which makes it hardly comparable..
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- p_j_w 2y agoIn a world where transportation is effectively instant you're correct. Here in reality, though, is another story. Living 2 hours away from a commercial center is practically useless unless you have one of the increasingly difficult to find fully remote jobs or enough money that you never have to work again.
- jebarker 2y agoWouldn't that be more expensive than just building on undesirable land?
- Sakos 2y agoMaintenance for infrastructure and buildings on solid ground is already expensive and difficult. I can't imagine how bad it would be for a sea-based town or city.
- bitcurious 2y agoInteresting premise. Infill is pretty common in cities where real estate is expensive. I’m not sure what the “tipping point” is but large chunks of the city of Boston are built on what was water. The neighborhood “Back Bay” is named quite literally. NYC likewise has large chunks of prime real estate built on artificial land. Manhattan’s Battery Park was once water. The motivation here does seem to have been economic. Singapore also is similarly growing out into the sea, though the motivation there is the lack of land in other directions, not merely price. The Aztec city of Tenochtitlan was similarly built in the middle of a lake on a foundation of floating grass islands called “chinampas.” Here the motivation was martial - the lake served as a moat for their imperial capital. Venice was built similarly to the Tenochtitlan on mostly a series of man-made islands, though the motivation seems to have been population growth. The Chinese today are building artificial islands in the South China Sea, the motivation here is martial/legalistic - expand the land territory and power projection to expand their claim to the sea.
- senkora 2y agoWith NYC, there is a fun example of the opposite. Manhattan Cruise Terminal in Hell’s Kitchen was constructed by cutting out parts of midtown Manhattan’s bedrock, in order to make the piers long enough to accommodate modern cruise ships. You can see on the map that those piers cut in noticeably further than any others.
- Oarch 2y agoGibraltar is, to a large extent, land reclaimed on water.
- m3047 2y agoWouldn't that be Alpaugh / Tulare Lake / Central Valley south of Fresno? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tulare_Lake https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tulare_Lake and of course the Netherlands... People may disagree with this but IMO Tulare Lake illustrates that it's not just "real estate" because plenty of real estate is basically worthless. In this case it's land with water which can grow things (same in Netherlands), and they made more of it by continuing to suck more water out of the lake than rainfall replenished.
- cjaybo 2y agoI mean, given how much undeveloped area exists inland, probably a very very long time?
- robocat 2y agoHouse prices only go up in popular areas. There are cheap unpopular places. Complaining about real estate prices is like going touristing and complaining that the place has too many tourists.