Modern Day Atlantis: Japanese Firm Shows 'Ocean Spiral', Underwater City of the Future

To solve the persistent issue of rising property prices, a Japanese construction company has suggested a unique plan – to start building cities in the ocean.

Shimizu Corporation has put forth a template for a modern-day Atlantis, a self-sufficient community that will sit on or just under the surface of the sea.

Humans have built cities on deserts, forests, mountains and other places on Earth, but have not built a colony as yet on the planet's most abundant locale – oceans. Oceans cover almost 71 percent of the earth's surface and with the growing population, utilizing the Earth's resources doesn't really seem like a bad idea.

The blue print of Shimizu Corporation's Ocean Spiral project shows floating cities that could operate both on the surface as well as underwater. It shows how advanced technologies can be used to house as many as 5,000 people in the huge spheres, and also help perform research on the seabed (3,000 metres to 4,000 metres below).

According to The Japan News, the project includes a 75-storey colony near the surface of the sea that will be named Blue Garden and will have around 1,150 housing units, a 400-room hotel and office space of 50,000 square meters.

Each watertight residential sphere will be connected to the ocean floor, where power can be created in the form of micro-organism factories that will produce methane. The Ocean Spiral will desalinate the seawater to produce drinking water.

Shimizu expects to develop the required technology for the project by the year 2030. Once the technology is ready, it will take another five years to complete the city, at a cost of ¥3 trillion or £16 billion, The Independent reports. The company hopes that the Japanese government as well as private investors will help fund this eco-friendly project.

The structure is divided in to three sections. First is a sphere - just under the surface of the sea – that will have a diameter of 500 meters (0.3 miles) and will house residential zones, business and hotels. The second section is a pod that will be connected to the third section - a 15 km (nine miles) long spiral that descends to the earth factory on the seabed.

Officials at Shimizu further said that tsunamis pose no threat to the Ocean Spiral as it will be built offshore.