Floating Island City Concept

There's only so much land on earth that we can develop for residential purposes. Should humanity's next great settlement have roots in the water?

ATDesignOffice, an architecture and design firm based in London, has proposed building a Floating City Island. Think of it as the next big, sustainable metropolis— just based on water instead of land.

"The project offered an opportunity to develop a new urban nucleus of world-class residential, commercial and cultural facilities," the designers explain.

(MORE: 7 Ways We Can Live On The Water)

The city's building blocks are "hexagonal modules" constructed off-site, then shipped in and linked together to form this future water world. The vision includes green power, creating a zero-carbon city.

Once complete, the Floating City Island would have everything thriving communities have now: green ways to provide public spaces for sports and entertainment; land along the edges reserved for farming and fishing; a network of tunnels for transportation; docks to serve as the parking lots for ships of all sizes.

Oh— and the views!

"All living spaces in the floating city have ocean scenery in all directions," the designers add.

The concept is under review from the China Transport Investment Co., one of the nation's largest property investors.The firm has shared its renderings with weather.com. You can learn more at ATDesignOffice's website.

MORE ON WEATHER.COM: Floating Homes Around the World