Задание №16445 ЕГЭ по Английскому языку

Are Floating Cities our Future?

There was a faint drizzle in the afternoon air as I stepped onto the wide, white jetty that marks the boundary of Waterbuurt, Amsterdam's floating neighborhood.

Despite the threat of rain, residents, who live in compact, three-storey houses bobbing on a small lake on the Dutch capital's eastern edge, were busy enjoying the afternoon. A mother and daughter dangled fishing rods from their kitchen window while two young boys splashed in the water, taking turns on a swing strung from a bridge.

I was led on my tour of this unique semi-aquatic community by Ton van Namen, whose company, Monteflore, masterminded the project. But rather than waxing lyrical about the success of this “envelope-pushing” development, which now incorporates 100 floating homes, van Namen was more interested in discussing the seemingly endless string of problems that went into creating it. Issues that were once surely a cause of great frustration were now apparently a source of great amusement.

“Oh, and then there was the issue with the zoning plan,” van Namen said as we walked the jetty, the afternoon breeze ruffling the sleeves of his blue shirt and tips of his long grey hair. “Someone wrote all the homes would be a certain height above street level. But of course, here, the homes are going up and down.”

It makes sense that the Netherlands is the nation testing the waters when it comes to floating homes, given the country’s green ethos and history of innovative design. The country is also the lowest lying in Europe, making sea level rise a very real threat. But it isn't just floating houses the Dutch are experimenting with.

The idea for a floating farm was born after Van Wingerden’s partner, Peter, witnessed the disruption Hurricane Sandy caused to New York's transport links and food supplies in 2012, noting how supermarket shelves in Manhattan remained empty days after the disaster. Upon returning to the Netherlands, he and Van Wingerden set out to create a farm that would be climate adaptive.

Their farm, which opened in 2019, is home to 40 cows, who roam between a dock-side meadow and the floating facility – the first of its kind in the world. The farm produces milk, cheese and yoghurt, which travel the short distance to customers via bike or electric van; while waste products from the city supplement the cows' feed, ranging from leftover foodstuff from restaurants to surplus turf from the stadium of local football team, Feyenoord.

“Our location allows us to produce and sell healthy food right here in the city in a very circular, sustainable way,” said Van Wingerden, who also has ideas for a floating vegetable farm and even a chicken farm. “I think there's a big future for floating farms.”

Witnessing the success people in the Netherlands are having both living and farming on the water, it begs the question of whether we'll soon be visiting entire cities that float.

“When it comes to sea levels rising, coastal city decision makers basically have two options,” said CEO of Oceanix, Marc Collins Chen. “Build a big wall, which will likely never be tall enough; or look at the latest in engineering, which is floating in place.”

“We are building infrastructure that is able to cope with extreme climate events, as well as being highly sustainable,” said Chen. “We want these settlements to use no fossil fuels. It's all renewable energy, and we're trying to grow 100% of our protein requirements on board.”

“It's possible; there are a lot of cities in the world with harbours and ports where you can realise a project more or less like this,” he said, noting how popular the houses here have proven with residents, and the interest shown in the development by city officials and architect firms around the world. “And, of course, with all the problems we have with rising water levels it could be a solution,” he added.

“It’s not the solution of course,” he said, an uncharacteristic sternness falling over his features, “The solution is to stop sea levels rising any higher.”

Unfortunately, that’s one problem not even van Namen can solve.