The SIM Eternal City Project has selected New York City (NYC) as its iconic candidate for preservation and simulation.
We do not view NYC merely as a metropolis facing a climate crisis. Instead, we define it as the first experimental Prototype for a 'Land-Sea Hybrid Civilization' that humanity must inevitably adopt.
The 2080 flood projection in New York City is not a forecast of the city's end, but rather a signal for a structural transformation.
In fact, this looming crisis is not unique to New York. Coastal metropolises across the globe—from Miami to Shanghai, Jakarta to Amsterdam—face an almost identical trajectory, demanding a universal solution to the threat of rising seas. The SIM Eternal City Project aims to develop this comprehensive adaptive framework for all threatened urban centers worldwide. However, we have chosen to execute the Master Plan for New York first.
As the ultimate testbed, New York offers the complexity and density required to prove our model. By solving the crisis here, we establish a replicable blueprint for the rest of the world.
NYC is tasked with the historic mission of connecting a past submerged in water with a future floating above it, all while maintaining its massive population and complex infrastructure.
1. The Physical Crisis: The Collapse of 30% of the Empire
Data for 2080 warns that the physical foundation of this massive city is reaching its limit.
Territorial Loss: Approximately 30% of NYC’s land area faces permanent inundation or severe flood risk. This signifies the loss of one-third of the essential territory required for the city to function.
Displacement of Population: About 1.4 million New Yorkers are at risk of losing their homes. This figure rivals the total population of many independent nations and signals the potential collapse of the working-class communities in Southern Brooklyn, Queens, and Staten Island that sustain the city. The damage from Hurricane Sandy (2012) was merely a prelude to this upcoming era of "permanent submersion."
Projections align with official data like NYC's Future High Tide layers (10th-90th percentiles for 2080s) and state reports on sea level rise up to 45 inches by then
2. Why NYC?
(1) The "City-State" Infrastructure
The fundamental reason we focus on NYC is its systemic completeness. Although part of the United States, NYC functions like a modern-day City-State—akin to ancient Athens or Venice—operating as a self-sufficient entity.
A Complete Ecosystem: NYC possesses a complex, web-like infrastructure of transportation, energy, water systems, and telecommunications. It is the pinnacle of human urban engineering.
Cultural & Economic Totality: As a melting pot of global cultures and the financial heart of the world (Wall Street), NYC represents the aggregate of modern capitalist civilization.
Simulating NYC means backing up the entire social infrastructure system humanity has achieved, not just copying geographical terrain.
3. The Solution: Archiving the Submerged, Living on the Waves
To address the displacement of 1.4 million people and the loss of territory, we propose a two-tiered preservation strategy:
A. Sunken Heritage Zones (Archiving)
The areas destined to be submerged—such as Lower Manhattan—are not to be abandoned as ruins. They are repositories of history where capitalism and immigration stories are sedimented.
We will designate these areas as "Sunken Heritage Zones."
Through Digital Twins and Innovative Island Style Cemetery, we will immortalize the city’s pre-flood form in virtual space. Physically, key landmarks will be reinforced for underwater preservation, transforming them into a submerged museum testifying to the civilization that existed before the rising tides.
B. Floating Cities (Alternative Living)
For the displaced citizens, we propose Modular Floating Cities covering the inundated waters.
Expansion of Habitat: Instead of fleeing, citizens will migrate to buoyant urban districts built directly over their old neighborhoods.
Self-Sufficiency: These floating districts will feature renewable energy generation (tidal/solar) and water purification systems, ensuring that NYC’s function as a self-reliant City-State continues uninterrupted on the water.
The Imagination of a 'Co-Existed City' The Floating City is not merely infrastructure; it is the imagination of a new civilization.
4. Connectivity: The Birth of the "Dual City"
NYC is the perfect prototype because it requires a seamless organic connection between the 70% Remaining Land (The Old Zone) and the 30% Floating City (The New Zone).
Symbiosis of Infrastructure: The city will function as a "Dual City." The existing subway networks on land will integrate with maritime transport and floating bridges. Citizens might commute to skyscrapers on solid ground during the day and return to their floating homes at night.
Uninterrupted Flow: The success of this prototype depends on the circulation of economy, culture, and logistics between the dry land and the floating districts. This connectivity is the key to proving that a city can survive a partial geological collapse.
Conclusion: The Ultimate Symbol of Adaptation
New York City is the most influential and densely populated infrastructure hub on Earth.
If NYC can successfully demonstrate a system where "submerged history is archived, floating cities house the displaced, and the remaining land remains perfectly connected," it will become the standard model for all coastal cities facing extinction.
For the SIM Eternal City Project, NYC is more than a candidate; it is the Grand Prototype. It is the stage where we will prove how the peak of modern civilization (Land) and the technology of the future (Sea) can coexist and communicate.