MIAMI – The world's first "floating city" has moved a step closer towards sailing into reality.
The Seasteading Institute has signed a deal with French Polynesia to begin construction off on the structure off Tahiti as soon as 2019.
BBC News reports PayPal founder Peter Thiel is the force behind Seasteading and the idea of floating cities that would be sustainable and good for the environment.
However, it has long been the dream of those who support floating cities that they would be communities where taxes and regulations would be abolished.
According to the Daily Mail, the Institute claims it will 'give people the freedom to choose the government they want instead of being stuck with the government they get'.
Yesterday's agreement does not clarify whether a new city would be able to exercise the ability to create its own laws. The government is also concerned with what damage, if any, would be done to the ocean.
The Daily Mail reports French Polynesia is interested in the idea of floating cities as the area is at risk from rising sea levels.
The first city, predicted to cost up to $167 million, would appear to be a floating puzzle with platforms arranged according to the needs of residents. It's possible 250 to 300 people would inhabit the first floating cities.
The Seasteading Institute hopes to have "tens of millions" of seafaring residents by 2050 and dozens of floating cities.