French Polynesia's president Edouard Fritch is expected in the US this weekend to sign a memorandum of understanding to build a floating city in the territory.
The Seasteading Institute wants to build a floating city in the Pacific. Photo: Supplied / The Seasteading Institute
Mr Fritch is to meet in California with the Seasteading Institute, which is backed by Paypal founder and billionaire Peter Thiel.
Randolph Hencken Photo: Supplied / The Seasteading Institute
The institute's website said there was no open space for experimenting with new societies that was free from political influence, so it was working with a team of marine biologists, nautical engineers, aquaculture farmers, attorneys, researchers and artists to enable seastead communities - or floating cities.
The group visited French Polynesia in September 2016 and found that its links to France, its autonomy and calm waters, offered a suitable environment for the project.
Its executive director, Randolph Hencken, said he had worked for three years to find a host nation.
The agreement with French Polynesia would stipulate the territory would work with the group to create a legal structure for seazones with a special governing framework by the end of 2017.
Mr Hencken said the venture was poised to launch a seasteading industry that would provide environmental resiliency to the millions of people threatened by rising sea levels.
