This proposed city of $420,000 floating pyramids is seeking 'citizens'

Around the world, coastal cities are becoming increasingly vulnerable to sea-level rise. Some future-looking architects and city planners believe that floating neighborhoods — in which buoyed homes could rise with water levels to avoid flooding — as a possible solution.

An Italian architecture firm called Lazzarini Design Studio has created a conceptual design for a floating city, dubbed Wayaland. The plan calls for luxury pyramid-shaped houses powered by solar energy, which CEO Pierpaolo Lazzarini hoes to build off the coast of the United Arab Emirates or Italy.

But Wayaland still in a very early phase of the design process. This month, the firm launched a crowdfunding campaign to build the first pyramid, which it expects will cost around $420,000. According to the campaign, the first investors could choose to become "citizens" of Wayaland if its home country chooses to recognize the development as an official city.