Marine Urbanism: How China is Building Artificial Islands in the South China Sea

For a recent article in The New York Times, Derek Watkins examines "what China has been building in the South China Sea." Employing high resolution satellite imagery and diagrams, his article investigates why—and how—China have been dredging and dumping sand in a bid to construct inhabitable artificial islands. Political and diplomatic concerns aside, the article also touches upon the technical requirements necessary to reclaim land from the oceans.

The same reef, now an island, in May 2015. Image Courtesy of DigitalGlobe, via the CSIS Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative, and CNES, via Airbus DS and IHS Jane’s (via The New York Times)

To find how to go "from reef to island in less than a year," read the article in full here.

About this author
Cite: James Taylor-Foster. "Marine Urbanism: How China is Building Artificial Islands in the South China Sea" 25 Aug 2015. ArchDaily. Accessed . <https://www.archdaily.com/772459/marine-urbanism-how-china-is-building-artificial-islands-in-the-south-china-sea> ISSN 0719-8884

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