Hard pressed with mighty issues like the political uncertainty, economic slum, energy shortage, trial of the war criminals, withdrawal of the military from the Chittagong Hill Tracts, internal and external terrorism, maritime border disputes, not-so-friendly neighbors, drying as well as swelling rivers, swine flu pandemic, Tipaimukh Dam, deadly tropical storms, land erosion, inundation, over population, everyday traffic jam and day by day consumer price hike, a Bangladeshi must be feeling just like ten Himalayas sitting on his head. Nevertheless, the impact of the global warming and rising sea must not be lost from sight.

In view of the generalized estimates by the experts at least one-third of Bangladesh will be submerged and more than thirty five million people homeless. On the other hand, as early as in 1990, one school of scientists had warned that entire nation of Bangladesh would become boat-people. Although about one meter rise in the sea level will probably be in place in about fifteen years or around the year 2025, it is reasonable to claim that Bangladesh, a land of two hundred and fifty rivers, now has become a ‘Water World’ with few islands. As such, we must start building the ‘Ocean Cities’ right now.

The science and technology of the ‘Ocean City’ is not new but has made significant advancement in the recent years. Due credit and honor must be given a distinguished Japanese architect, Dr. Kiyonori Kikutake. Born in 1928 in Kurume, Japan, he earned international acclaim for his "Marine City Project", first proposed in 1958. His ‘floating system’ is a modern vision of future ‘Ocean Cities’. His 1958 ocean city known as Unabara was designed for an industrial city hosting 500,000 citizens, complete with an artificial sun for the energy. Interested persons may get a glimpse of his profile and project at http://www.kikutake.co.jp/e/top/top.html and http://parole.aporee.org/work/print.php?words_id=102.

Two outstanding examples of the floating building are the Kansai International Airport of Osaka, which is built on an artificial island in the middle of Osaka Bay and is reportedly the 4th largest airport in the world as per a 2006 survey, and Dubai’s under water hotel called Hydropolis with 220 luxury suites. Submarine tour of the Great Barrier Reef and San Diego Sea World also testify the technological and architectural achievement in the submarine and ocean city designs.

In short, Ocean Cities are not fantasy; scientifically and technologically they are reality.

Bangladesh is rich with world class scientists, engineers, and architects at home and abroad. The international laws such as the Geneva Convention (1958) United Nations Convention on the law of the Sea (1982) also allow building of artificial islands and structures in the Maritime and Exclusive Economic Zones. Base on the Google Earth (clip given below), there is an area of some thirty thousand square nautical miles that may be lawfully available to Bangladesh. This will convert to about forty thousand square (land) miles, which is approximately seventy percent of the entire Bangladesh area, 55598 square miles. This means the Ocean Cities will enlarge Bangladesh by seventy percent (70%). This surely will reduce population pressure (173 million in 2010 and 244 million by 2025 as per POPIN, the United Nations Population Network) and give better maneuverability for overall national development. Political will is what we need here.

Scientists will continue to argue that this is the not the global warming but the symptoms of an oncoming ice age. They may also debate that the global warming is not man-made, but that our solar system is passing through a hot space bubble in its galactic orbit. We should not get distracted with the cause but focus on the effect.

Finally, I am one of those people who believe that mermaids are not myths but true sunbathing beauties of the past ocean cities. Could they be Bengali beauties?


Dubai’s Hydropolis, a underwater luxury hotel
http://www.designbuild-network.com/projects/Hydropolis/Hydropolis5.html

Bangladesh Continental Shelf from Google Earth.
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Note: Dr. Shwe Lu Maung, Ph.D. is a biological scientist living in USA. He can be reached at kaukpandaung@yahoo.com