Award-winning architectural firm Abiboo Studio has developed plans for the first Martian self-sufficient and sustainable city called Nuwa. The city is one of five, each located near specific resources required to live on the surface of Mars. The designs were created as part of a science-based competition run by the Mars Society and SONet, an international network of academics and scientists seeking sustainable exploration solutions off Earth.
The city caters for 250,000 residences and requires very little imported materials from Earth for construction and maintenance. Nuwa contains designs for housing, food and energy production, as well as social and cultural spaces. The team brought together by Abiboo also had to create a governance system, economic models, and provision to educate the population.
For the city to be self-sustaining almost all the materials required for construction needed to be obtained within the immediate region. The majority of the development is made from excavating into a cliffside to create a series of ‘micro-buildings connected by tunnels. Food production is a mixture of crops, microalgae, farm animals and insects to provide a healthy diet for the population and power is generated by capturing radiation from the sun.
Construction could start as early as 2054 and be completed by 2100.
SamuelJTanner 