Floating cities - the economy problem

From: "Bill"
To:
Sent: quarta-feira, 21 de fevereiro de 2001 14:01
Subject: [spacesettlers] Re: Floating cities - the water supply problem

[snikt]
I could think of some. Mineral recovery a la oil platforms, tourism
either associated with a cruise line or as a destination resort,
supply of electricity using OTEC technology although I have real
reservations of that, fish farming and aquaculture. Depending on how
big it is one could use it as a platform for landing airplanes. It
could be used as a tax haven.

Indeed, two of the applications that you mention are already implemented by
artificial structures in the sea.

There is an artificial island-airport in Japan. However, it is not a
floating structure, and I wonder *why* the engineers that made it did not
made the option for a floating landing platform; that would have avoided the
problems of terrain sinking that were experienced later.

Also, there is a floating village that is a tax heaven: Sealand
(http://www.fruitsofthesea.demon.co.uk/sealand/). Of course it is just a
junky floating platform built for military applications in the forties...

What else?

By pure chance, I found this document that appears to be a report from a
Japanese ship building company, and they're talking about a "multi-purpose
floating platform" to provide help in disaster areas or something...

http://www.hitachizosen.co.jp/soumu/zaimu/fina/review.html

[snikt]
Dr. Omni
ICQ# 53853815