–Analysis–
MADRID — For thousands of years, humans have been building new islands. Today, however, they are emerging at an unprecedented rate and too often the motivation behind these constructions is purely capitalist — whether they are destined to tourism or military purposes, or responding to territorial ambitions.
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Two good examples are the luxurious islands of Dubai and those of the South China Sea.
On the other hand, the many islands disappearing or being fragmented because of rising sea levels are giving a striking contrast with this reality.
It is a kind of tragic dance on the planetary map that has sparked the interest of many experts, such as Alastair Bonnett, traveller, writer and professor of geography at Newcastle University. The phenomenon is anything but new, he tells La Marea via email. A quick look at the Solomon Islands, and you’ll find out that the Lau people built around 80 artificial islands hundreds of years ago. Same for the Uros, who built floating islands in the Peruvian side of Lake Titicaca.
Bonnett explains that they were created because, “water was the preferred means of transport before roads became what they are today. Living on a lake or near the coast thus made a lot of sense: you were on the economic ´main street´ and at the same time, it was an easy-to-defend place. So it is not surprising that islands have been built for thousands of years.”
More recently, however, our motivations have changed. So much so that for Bonnett the sea has become the playground of capitalism. “Developers can make a lot of money by building artificial islands because people will pay for a sea view. In some countries like China, building hotels on land can be made difficult by the state who owns the urban land, so the sea has become a business center.”
Military outposts
Islands are also built to become military infrastructure, as is the case in the South China Sea. “You must not forget that each island grants its country 200 nautical miles of extra territory from its shores. So the incentives to build are great.”
Most artificial islands cause great damage to the environment.
“China has used reefs to turn them into islands, thereby claiming the entire sea,” Bonnett adds. “I would like to point out that the U.S. did the same thing in the Pacific: the USS — an acronym for US Navy ships — turned atolls into military islands and used them, along with other tiny islands, to project its power over a large part of that ocean. Even using them as nuclear test sites. That is why I think we should not judge China without discussing how and why the U.S. achieved hegemony in the Pacific.”
An environmental problem
From military or residential purposes, to exclusive use as airports or as platforms for drilling for resources — there are many types of artificial islands. The problem is that most of them cause great damage to the environment. This has to do with the way they are constructed, which is the simplest and cheapest possible: the seabed is dragged, crushed and pulverized to form the island.
“This way, all forms of life are destroyed. These kinds of islands also tend to cause waters inside and around them to be very warm and shallow and such waters are not suitable for life. Finally, when you build an island, you create a supply problem: everything has to be brought there — from hotel towels to electricity — so you also have a lot of environmental costs involved,” says Bonnett.
This is a real problem because many are being built these past years. A figure that he could not be precise about “because many projects have started, then stopped and take years to finish. If we exclude finger islands, which are connected to the mainland by thin land bridges and which property developers in Australia and the U.S. are building profusely, only a few are completed each year.”
But there is one type of artificial island he finds interesting: floating ones, such as those from the Floating City of the Maldives. “These islands have the least environmental impact and could be a useful solution in a time of rising sea levels.”
Disappearing islands
While new islands are artificially popping up on the surface, others are disappearing because of rising sea levels.
A grim paradox which does not make much sense for Bonnett. “Today, you can travel from new islands that are being built to other natural ones, not that far away, that are disappearing — I myself have done it in Panama. It makes you feel that we all live in a really crazy world!”
Violence is also responsible for the disappearance of some islands, such as the Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands, a place bombed by the U.S. during the 1940s and 1950s with atomic weapons 7,000 times more powerful than the ones used on Hiroshima.
Their island is the place anchored in their hearts and to which they dream of returning.
And yet, inhabitants want to return — just like on Runit Island, one of forty islands of the Enewetak Atoll of the Marshall Islands in the Pacific Ocean, where around 73,000 m3 of radioactive waste from those explosions have been buried. This speaks to the special connection between island and identity.
“In my experience, islanders are great travelers, but their island is the place anchored in their hearts and to which they dream of returning. So when citizens of small islands are expelled, they often try to return, even if outsiders don’t understand what draws them to such a small place. We all want to travel, but we all want roots: it’s another of those paradoxes that animate modern life,” he explains.
This reality can also be observed in North Sentinel, in the Indian Archipelago’s Andaman Islands, a place Alistair Bonnett describes as one of the last traditional bastions.
“This place lives in our imagination as the last unvisited and uncolonized island where a community lives the same way their ancestors did. It’s not about imagining that the people there are good or bad and making value judgements. Rather, North Sentinel reminds us that there is value in simply leaving people alone. The modern world is very intrusive. Its benefits are obvious, but it is also very corrosive and many people did not choose to have their lives turned upside down. North Sentinel occupies a kind of nostalgic place in our hearts,” he concludes.
