Some architectural firms are focused on the development of floating buildings, viewing the challenges of flood protection due to rising sea levels as an opportunity. What this means is that it will soon no longer be something only shown in movies. The real world will have buyers stretching forward to acquire floating homes soon.

Ronda Kaysen of The New York Times reported earlier that these innovative developers see the water as “a frontier for development.”

The Netherlands, a third of which is located below sea level, has already experimented with floating buildings, including homes, offices, and even a dairy farm, that are able to move with the rising and falling currents. Of course, there may be other challenges.

“If it storms, you really feel it, and you see the land dancing,” Maarten Remmers, a resident in a Schoonschip neighborhood of floating houses, told the reporter.

An architect said he and his team want to change cities worldwide. They want to see how to push the cities into the water. He also puts a timeframe around it: “I hope that in 50 years time, we look back at our cities and say, ‘Well, floating structures, they are just part of this city recipe.”

According to National Geographic, sea levels have been rising primarily because of ocean warming and melting of ice such as glaciers and ice sheets.

These are expected to be a foot higher by 2050, raising concerns about the safety of the people who live near the water.

The issue also exists in the United States resides as well. It is a location where flooding and storms are affected by sea levels, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and the U.N. Atlas of Oceans noted that eight of the 10 largest cities in the world are situated close to a coast, as reported by NOAA.