Original subtitles

And once those legs are dropped in the water

Of entire floating cities called "blue cities."

We think that our blue cities will first just grow

From beyond to the waterfront but still be part of our city,

And maybe in the near future the first communities

Will be created on the middle of the ocean.

Narrator: In the blue cities of the future,

This would be a dream house.

It's the first ever self-propelled floating home.

♪

It borrows technology from oil platforms.

It's called the jack-up system.

It's made of four hydraulic legs

Narrator: The ultimate vision is the construction

And touch the sea bottom,

In our case up to 20, 25 feet of water.

That enables us to completely stabilize the boat

And even lift it out of the water.

One of the most advanced features on this prototype

Is it doesn't need to be towed.

It can move under its own power.

Derouin: They're completely solar electric,

So the... (speaks indistinctly)

Is equipped with two electric thrusters

That allow it to move at speeds up to seven knots.

It's completely sustainable and self-sustained,

Gets hit by some of the most vicious hurricanes,

And it seeps into our pipes.

Narrator: Downtown fort lauderdale

Would regularly flood

If it weren't for these storm stations

And another genius solution.

The city has installed 162 of these one-way valves.

We call them "tidal valves."

And the idea is that while water cannot move in this direction --

If I put my hand in I can't make it go anywhere,

But if there's water from the sky it can then open up

And allow the water out.

Narrator: This part of the u.S.

So it gives a lot of freedom

Leaving architects to explore the idea of "aquatecture"

Or floating buildings.

Building underwater is one way to make the city

More resilient for the future and to adapt to rising seas.

So what we do, we call this aquatecture,

And you can compare it with architecture on land

But then with floating foundations.

So the buildings, the look and feel --

It's almost the same as the structures on land,

But it has the ability to cope with climate change,

Sea level rise, and with floods.

To make sure that these kind of neighborhoods

But we need these kind of clients.

We need these kind of companies

To bring this kind of engineering

Because the innovation is being paid by the rich.

But then we can bring it to more vulnerable

And more poor countries.

So, you see, for instance, in bangladesh

Where there are so many slums around the water

And they are being threatened by every sea level rise

And every water rise.

We can bring there very small floating schools,

Floating hospitals, floating energy plants

So it's not for everybody.

Are being treated well

And being upgraded from the situation they're in now.

Narrator: A passion for profit

May be driving innovation in florida.

But in the waterlogged netherlands,

There's another kind of passion at work.

♪

There's a whole community here made up of people

Who love to live on the water.

And they figured out how to do it more cheaply.

It's called schoonschip,

And the final boats are coming in today.

And good thing, because climate change

To actually move your floating house

Or your boat to different locations

And you don't need to be plugged to shore power or utility.

You can change your view,

You can change your neighbors if you want.

Narrator: If the houses in venice were designed like this,

They wouldn't need to get their water from underground.

We collect all the rainwater from this roof through drains,

Store it into a freshwater compartment,

And then have a filtration and purification systems.

Narrator: Houseboat design has come a long way

In the last 20 years.

That ground water comes through what is a very porous geology,

Is making life on the water more dangerous.

But do you need to be an a-list celebrity to afford

To live safely on the water?

Narrator: Venice may be one of the most famous

Sinking cities in the world, but it isn't the only one.

Areas right here in america

Are dealing with flooding issues of their own,

And architects are designing floating buildings,

Or aquatecture, in response.

Olthius: So we are here in a very expensive building.

I think it's more than $5 million,

There, they have a big

But how do we inject water deep into the ground

Without bringing down venetian architecture into the lagoon?

A major issue is to obtain enough lift

That it is more or less uniform as possible.

Narrator: It's risky, but it's possible.

Should we take a chance on this?

♪

It turns out, this technology has been used off

The coast of california.

♪

The wilmington oil field

Close or in the nearby of los angeles,

To the porous sand underneath.

Land subsidence in the '50s

Due to the production of oil

From this quite shallow reservoir.

And when they recognize that this was really a big problem,

What they've done -- they start injecting.

They inject a lot of groundwater at a depth

Ranging between 600 to 1,000 meters.

They also serve a rebound

So an uplift on the area around the injection well,

That amount around 30 centimeter.

Narrator: Fluid injection has also been used successfully

To give a lift to tokyo and taipei.

Then our solution of raising the city isn't more effective

But the sewer system couldn't handle the runoff.

In the mid-1800s, engineers figured out

How to raise the entire center of the city

By more than three feet.

They used a system of hydraulic jacks, or jackscrews,

To lift the buildings one inch at a time.

They filled the gap with dirt

When the new sewer pipes were laid.

In other cases, whole buildings were dug up,

Put on logs, and rolled to a new location.

♪

There's a chance that the water around venice could keep rising.

Surely, it could work under our 160 square miles

Than the floodgates that are already in place.

And what if water levels happen to drop?

Venice and its gondolas could be left high and dry.

But there may be another way to raise the city.

♪

It's called injection.

Here's how it would work under venice.

A series of wells would be dug in a massive circle.

Over a period of 10 years, sea water would be injected

Using the world's mightiest high-pressure gas turbine pumps

That extend through the clay layer below venice

South florida has a rather unique geology

So far, we've decided moving it, rebuilding it,

Or injecting water underneath it won't solve all of our problems.

So maybe it's time to check out the venice of america.

It has a lot of the same issues.

Gassman: So as you can see, the water is nearly

At the top of this sea wall.

In the next 50 years, we're expecting the water level

To come up to about my knee,

Which is why we're gonna raise the sea wall

About up to mid-chest for me.

Narrator: Like venice in Italy,

The coast of florida is sinking, too.

To save the sinking city of venice.

Where our ground is pretty much like a sponge.

The water can move through it,

And so simply building a barrier will not keep the water out.

♪

Narrator: So, fort lauderdale has a system of pumps

Running 24/7.

The structure right here is one of four storm stations

That we have within the city.

Right now, the storm station is discharging.

This is coming mostly from ground water

'cause you can see it's not raining.

♪

Of venetian islands.

With the data that we have now, it is reasonable to predict

An uplift of the city of about 20-25 centimeter.

♪

Narrator: Before we could begin the injection process,

We'd need to do some testing.

In order to be sure that the properties

Of the material are the same,

And so the idea is to, let's say, only using few wells

Trying to inject some water there

And see what's happened.

We want to calibrate to validate our model on a pilot test.

♪

Narrator: Raising the city

Would cut down on the need

For the m.O.S.E. Floodgate system

And its subsequent sewer problems.

But so far, we only have mathematical models

And limited testing to guide us.

Maybe we can learn from another city closer to home

That's also in danger of being swallowed by the sea.

♪

♪

Narrator: We're imagining what it would take

And hydrologists,

Is the weight of the materials you use.

Narrator: We may want to hold off

On adding any marble countertops.

We did it -- without having to leave the lagoon

The world has come to love.

We renovated using terrazzo veneziano.

We injected seawater from a dozen underground wells

To lift the outskirts of the city.

We floated the rialto neighborhood

Using buoyant, concrete platforms.

We did it with an international team

Made up of hundreds of italian-heritage architects

And the other thing to be careful of

Hydrogeologists from the american oil industry,

Canadian underwater construction crews,

And dutch "aquatects."

We did it in 20 years.

The final price tag --

Well, we figure $50 million in labor costs,

$20 million over 10 years for the injection system,

And brace yourself,

$200 billion to float the center of the city.

Yeah, it's gonna take some persuasion in a city

That's already expensive to live in.

We talk about "miami beach rising above,"

Teaniti: We have to inject at a small rate.

The venice we love today

And the venice we're dying to protect was built.

While we wait to muster the money

And the political willpower to float of the city,

We'll gradually replenish the aquifer by using injection.

We need expertise from the word the oil companies

Because they have really a lot of experience

In terms of drilling the well.

Narrator: We're thinking 12 wells

In a ring around the city.

The pumping would take 10 years plus another 10 years

For planning and preliminary testing.

It's sort of our motto.

We don't want to inject too much,

Otherwise this will generate some cracks into the formation.

Narrator: As the city slowly rises,

We'll reinforce any gracious homes

And historic buildings that are at risk of cracking.

We'll make sure we use the pride and joy of venetian builders.

It's called terrazzo veneziano.

Da mosto: And that's a special kind of mortar

With stones in it.

You hardly ever see cracks in those kinds

Of typical venetian floors.

Would allow residents to hold on to

To celebrate its new future.

People from all over the world will dance in the squares

And celebrate on the canals in gratitude for a city

That has become a guiding light.

Cities that are threatened by the water

Like miami, new york,

Tokyo, they will start embracing the water,

And we call this rise of the blue city.

They can make cities flexible and adaptable,

Because building for change

Is the only way we can be ready for the future.

Narrator: Our vision for a new venice

It will host the largest carnival ever

What people have long loved about it.

When I walk out of the house, more often than not

I notice something wonderful or beautiful

Or just plain interesting that I've never noticed before,

Even though I've been living in the same house now

For almost 25 years.

♪

Narrator: And our hope is that the solutions

To the city's water problems

Will invite people to fall in love

With it all over again -- if we built it today.

♪

People were looking for a new space,

But we're doing a lot of community outreach

Because when people understand the threat,

I think they're willing to put up with more burden,

They're willing to pay for it.

Narrator: We trust that if the taxpayers

Of venice lead the way,

Venice-loving patrons around the world will follow.

Since you can't do it with just public money,

There's just not enough of it,

You've got to make sure the private sector

Has confidence so they invest in their infrastructure.

And we see that a hundred years ago,

It's around this area that the most glorious venice,

And they went up in vertical buildings

And making high-rise buildings.

Now today it's the same.

We see water, we see the possibility to see on water,

And with our floating technology we can slowly row into the --

Into the water.

Narrator: The hope is once a homeowner sees their neighbor

Literally rising above the flood in venice,

They'll latch on to the idea like a life raft,

And eventually the entire city will be transformed.

Once venice has lifted itself up,

But what happens to these families

We have our water pump for waste water,

And we have a vacuum system that takes our waste from the toilet

And transports it to a central facility

That generates bioenergy.

Narrator: These homeowners also have

Their own private energy grid.

So I think, actually, a lot of what you find in this project

Is extremely unique,

And we hope that through all of the efforts

In pioneering these kind of projects

Will be able to be replicated across the world.

Narrator: Seems pretty idyllic,

And most of it during the day is stored inside this battery.

When there's a big storm?

Every houseboat is attached

To two big poles,

Basically, which keep the boat in place until --

There's a squared anchors around a cylinder bowl,

And that keeps us from floating around, basically.

If there's a very, very big storm --

I think it's difficult to say, but in general,

They're very stable and they can move up and down.

So if the water level will change,

They'll definitely go up and down

And move with the water.

Floating neighborhood in the world --

It's a dream come true for a lot of young dutch people.

♪

Man: It's really a great opportunity

To actually build my own home.

And living on the water -- yeah, it's really something

We've been looking forward a long time.

Climate is changing, sea levels are rising,

So floating, for me, it's, like, the most logical solution.

I think it's gonna save a lot of nice and great places

If we make it floating now before it's too late.

♪

Narrator: Schoonschip is the most sustainable

Narrator: And you don't have to be rich

46 homes designed by 20 architects

Built out of wood and concrete.

The most common way is to make a concrete pontoon,

Like a concrete foundation which floats,

And on top we use a timber frame.

Narrator: Take a look inside, and you'll see these homes

Are sustainable and self-sufficient.

This is your heat pump

Which takes care of the heated tap water

And also the floor heating.

We have solar panels on the roof which generate energy,

As you built a high-rise

♪

Instead of floating the whole city,

We'll just float a small part of it, one building at a time.

We'll call on the most experienced

Underwater construction teams in the world

And the best water engineers from the netherlands.

They know all about floating big structures.

Olthius: So we have now our foundations in concrete,

But you also have steel modules which we can connect like lego

To a bigger structures.

If you want to build a floating forest or floating agriculture,

You're not gonna build it on the same foundation

So let's do it!

Or a floating apartment building.

Narrator: Here's the plan -- first we drain the area,

Next we place the floating foundation

In between the stilts.

And lastly, the water has to be pumped back in.

This kind of foundation will start to float,

They will touch underneath the --

The houses, then we would cut the stilts underneath the water,

And then they'll start to float.

Narrator: We're going to start by floating rialto,

One of the finest neighborhoods in venice.

From becoming the next atlantis.

To own one of these floating homes.

They sell from between $350,000 and $900,000.

♪

♪

So maybe floatation is the best solution for venice.

We think we could sell residents on the idea

Of floating their homes, but, then again,

There are all of those other buildings in the city.

And there's those millions of poles and all that rain.

♪

♪

Narrator: We're envisioning how we'd save venice

Then they tried laying planks to keep everyone's feet dry.

So far, we figure we would sink in debt if we tried to rebuild

A city with so much history and culture.

And moving the city even just down the coast

Is a logistical nightmare.

Raising the city won't work if we can't guarantee it

Can be done without toppling its architectural treasures.

Floating the whole city, it would be impossible.

But hold on -- why does it have to be a single solution?

Maybe a package deal is the way to go.

Why don't we try a combination of solutions --

Floating, injection, and renovation?

And to do that, you need to hold on to something in the sediment,

Due in part to a process called subsidence.

♪

Here's how subsidence works.

Water that sits in the spaces between the grains of sediment

Provides enough pressure to hold up the ground above it.

When the ground water is removed

To be used for homes and factories,

The sediment gradually compacts.

That compaction causes the land's surface

To gradually become lower.

Da mosto: Venetian architecture --

It's anchored under the water.

Over the last 100 years

And that sediment is often prone to sinking.

Subsidence continues to the tune

Of a couple of millimeters a year.

But you add generations to that,

And that subsidence becomes significant.

Narrator: Part of the problem is that the rivers

That used to feed the lagoon were diverted in the 1500s.

Teaniti: Soon after the second world war

When we have the industrial development of the area,

So all the industry is located on the mainland around venice.

They start using ground water.

And that caused further subsidence

Narrator: Some older homes have ground floors

And today it's just trying to keep its head above water.

You had islands made out of sand,

And you had to fortify these islands,

So they put wooden sticks into the islands,

And on these wooden sticks they built all the fundaments

And they build all the houses and everything else.

Once the sticks are under the water

They don't get any oxygen anymore, and so they can't rot.

And that's exactly what happens.

For example, if you dig out these things now they're stone.

They are petrified, basically,

And this is what makes venice so stable.

Of about 12 centimeters --

That are never used and moats at their doorsteps.

Because when the water comes in, it can wreak havoc.

♪

Once the salt water gets into the bricks,

It basically is sucked up on to the walls,

And then the water is evaporating,

And it leaves back the salt,

And the salt is breaking up the bricks.

Narrator: But venice's problems get worse.

While the sea levels are rising the city is also sinking.

It's dropped a total of 22 centimeters

That the italian government is paying to have

It'll be cheaper than do it with the old technology.

So maybe if we were to build a venice today,

We could do a better job,

And it wouldn't suffer the kind of flooding problems

That we see around the city today.

Narrator: Meanwhile, the city is hanging its hopes

On something called the m.O.S.E. Project.

It's a system of underwater movable walls

Designed to block the three inlets from the sea

When high water surges in.

Umgiesser: It's this big project,

6 billion euro,

With the technology of today,

For protection against the high water.

So the mobile barrier project has never been envisioned

As a permanent solution.

Teaniti: The working life for the m.O.S.E. Project

Is around 50 years.

And then who knows?

We don't know.

If we have a sea level rise,

We have to close the barriers more and more often,

And at a certain point you come at a situation

Where you have to close them too often.

Narrator: And when the barrier closes,

To celebrate and have wonderful dances,

This much.

That's a lot for a city

That all its buildings are at water level.

Narrator: By the 1970s, there was so much concern

The city shut down the ground water wells.

But that won't be enough to save venice.

Venice is still subsiding at the rate of,

Let's say, one millimeter per year.

Narrator: If venice continues sinking at this rate,

We'll soon risk losing a city adored for its art, music,

And it's famous masked carnival.

Venice is known as a place where one can wear a mask

It's a city on stilts,

And there are wonderful parades here.

Narrator: No one wants to rain on venice's parade.

So if they built an empire out of a swamp centuries ago,

Then we could build a new one today, right?

♪

You can't think of this venice without the lagoon

And the salt marsh and the wetlands all around it.

They're too inseparable elements of a single system.

Narrator: But many experts think rebuilding in a new location

Is a great idea.

I think even that if you had to rebuild venice

-- Captions by vitac -- www.Vitac.Com

I don't think it's so hard.

Narrator: And do we attempt to improve upon the current city

Or stay true to the classical design?

I don't think it's a realistic option to move the city.

I think it would just fall apart.

Narrator: Get ready for a deep dive

Below earth's most famous water world.

We're on the job site of one of the world's greatest wonders,

And we're wondering how long would it take?

How much would it cost?

How many workers would we need?

Could we even do it if we built it today?

If you had to rebuild venice again with this technology,

Captions paid for by discovery communications

♪

In the middle of a tidal lagoon along the coast of Italy

Lies one of the world's most magical tourist destinations.

Venice is crisscrossed by canals that lead to its signature

S-shaped waterway.

But today's highway for honeymooners

Used to be the perfect hideout.

When this was an island

Venice could not be conquered from the mainland.

It could not be conquered from the seaside

Because it was inside the lagoon.

That we've got some high sea levels,

Narrator: Venice, the city of romance --

Gives the impression of being a magical, floating city.

It's beautiful,

But it's sinking under the weight of its own history,

A sea of tourists, and weather.

I'm really worried that venice is on the edge of a precipice.

Narrator: Desperate attempts are being made

To hold back the storms,

Tides, and rising sea.

Part of global warming,

Climate change is stronger storms, bigger surges,

And if, god forbid, they hit at the same time

Only the people who lived here

The damage would be significant.

Narrator: The floating city doesn't actually float.

It's built on wooden pilings set in 118 submerged islands

In the northern end of the adriatic sea.

Hundreds of pedestrian bridges

And canals keep the city connected.

It's the only historic city built right

In the middle of a marshy lagoon.

Narrator: Can we use modern engineering solutions

To save hundreds of years of history

From sinking below the surface?

Narrator: This area gets hit by some very high tides,

You have two choices --

Either walk or travel on the water.

55,000 people live here.

There used to be almost four times that number.

People cannot afford living here anymore

Because it's so expensive now.

Narrator: But that doesn't stop an estimated 30 million tourists

From pouring off of water buses every year.

I've been there when st. Mark's square's flooded,

And people sit and drink their coffee

With six inches of water up their -- up their ankle.

♪

Narrator: There are no cars here because there are no roads.

A phenomenon called acqua alta.

When this was built and started 500 years ago,

The water was not as extreme.

In 1966,

Venice was devastated by a huge flood.

The whole city was covered in water.

Starting from that event,

All the world started thinking

About how we can help venice to survive.

♪

Narrator: The truth is, venice isn't exactly a floating city.

So they would have made

Knew the roots through to where the city was.

Umgiesser: If you came from the seaside,

You had ships which were too big.

They couldn't go through the lagoon.

If you came from the land,

You wouldn't have ships in order to get to venice.

Narrator: Before long, venice's complicated geography

Became its identity.

Well, you see a campo,

Which is what we call the squares,

That would have originally been probably a tidal pool

With the highest sediment around it.

All the sewage that usually gets swept out to sea is trapped.

The houses around this tidal pool.

Umgiesser: Squares were used in order to form small communities.

Close to a square normally, there's also a church.

♪

The church was the glue

That people used in order to come together.

Narrator: From the water, venice may look like an island,

But it's actually a collection of small islands.

The city of venice is built on a lot of islands,

I think more than 100 islands

That basically have been glued together by the bridges.

Everywhere you see that's built in venice

And it even has its own system of canals.

So moving there should keep tourism up and costs down.

But the city of venice doesn't sit on solid ground --

It sits on stilts.

♪

And it's been sitting on them for a very long time.

♪

Since it was founded in the year 421,

The city has been resting on water-resistant alder trunks.

The landmark church of santa maria della salute alone

Is perched on more than a million stilts.

♪

Called chioggia,

Is on top of hundreds and hundreds

Of these wooden piles

That get driven through the mud layers.

On top of the wooden piles they put some flat,

Wooden boards to level it all off.

Then on top of the wooden boards,

They'd make the foundation stones.

It's basically a kind of white marble to deal

With the interface between water and air.

Then on top of this stone base,

The walls of most buildings are made out of bricks,

Which are much lighter because they knew then

21 of the town's heritage buildings,

♪

That's what they're doing here in kiruna, sweden.

♪

♪

The largest and northern most town in the country

Is being swallowed up by a huge iron ore mine

That is causing sinkholes.

♪

So, kiruna is being relocated two miles east.

♪

This is one of the biggest urban transformations on the planet.

♪

To be careful about creating too much weight

Including a landmark church,

Are being transferred by truck and crane.

♪

Other buildings are being dismantled brick by brick

And reassembled on the new site.

In addition, nearly 3,000 new homes

Are being built for residence.

Maybe we could do like the swedes

And relocate all of venice to a more stable location.

♪

There is a town just 33 miles away

It's going to cost a billion dollars

So venice needs the lagoon in order to remain venice.

So I think this option cannot be.

It's not possible at all.

I think what makes venice unique and really special

Is the accumulation of 1,000 years of history,

And you can't buy that, and you can't make that.

And the fact that it has this 1,000 years to demonstrate

And we're living in the fruits of that

Is the incredible resilience of the human, physical,

And artistic elements that come together in what is venice.

Narrator: Even if we could maintain the city's character,

Could we afford it?

It's no more venice.

Just to move the city of kiruna, sweden,

To save it from sinkholes.

This is becoming cost-prohibitive.

♪

Could we lift the city instead?

It's been done in chicago where three million people live

Just a few feet above lake michigan.

♪

Flooding was a problem for decades.

Engineers tried sloping the streets so rainwater

Ran into the chicago river.

That didn't work.

Standish: The city's made of islands

That would just increase the subsidence.

Most of the time it's two thin walls of brick with air

In the middle.

Narrator: On second thought,

Venice's complicated underwater support system

Maybe too challenging for us to relocate.

Is there another way to keep this one-of-a-kind city afloat?

Narrator: Venice is slowly sinking

Deeper underwater each year.

We want to save the historic city,

But the plan to relocate its complex underwater support

System elsewhere isn't possible.

And just move it?

That are connected by bridges.

And if you think about it as well,

There are other connections under the water

To do with utilities,

Electricity, water systems, there are wells.

To me, it is just impossible to move the city.

♪

Narrator: Plus would moving our city mean

We would lose what makes venice venice?

Teaniti: (speaks indistinctly) ...Probably can be done.

If you move venice to outside this lagoon,

Do we move it?

They cannot buy anything,

They cannot consume anything, so that is --

It's a big problem for the tourism.

Narrator: Our mission is to protect venice,

Whatever it takes.

And there's a chance that what we do in venice

Could help save other cities like new york,

Miami, even london, from sinking below water.

And that mission will guide every decision

We make on our modern-day venetian renovation.

♪

Do we rebuild it?

And if tourists cannot walk around,

Do we float it or just raise it up?

How long is it going to take?

How many people will it take?

And how much will the whole thing cost?

Let's look at our first option.

Why don't we rebuild venice?

Smaller versions of it have been popping up all over the world.

Standish: Las vegas has a venetian hotel

With gondola rides,

And many places in the world are sometimes called

"the new venice."

There's even a small area of canals in london

And culture with it.

♪

Umgiesser: If you block the tidal action,

The sewage stays inside the lagoon,

And then it's unbearable.

Narrator: We need to move quickly

And develop a plan that will keep venice above water

And even rescue other sinking cities

Around the world, too.

♪

Narrator: We're imagining how we could save venice

From disappearing underwater,

Taking centuries of irreplaceable history

Known as "little venice."

Venice has been attracting visitors from other places,

Going back to the 13th, 14th century --

Pilgrims, traders, merchants,

Many different kinds of people.

Venice is an extreme concentration

Of heritage and beauty.

Narrator: There's also a lot of money here.

But huge retail and hotel profits

Are in danger of getting washed away in the rising water.

If it's coming too often,

What happens is tourists cannot walk around anymore,

With our inhabitants, with the smell of the sea water.

Venice because the geography is so similar.

♪

So, could we build our own copy of venice

And in a location less soggy than its present one?

Even if we could build it,

Could we ever duplicate its unique charm?

There isn't one formula for recreating venice.

It's much more of an idea.

It's a feeling, it's a construction,

Both literally in cement but also in our minds.

Teaniti: More or less as before,

The city must be there with our people,

Named xitang even looks like

Otherwise it could be another cities.

My idea is that venice had the perfect position.

It was inside a lagoon where you didn't have to worry

About the problem of sewage.

Sewage was naturally taken away because we had tides.

Narrator: Even if we were satisfied with building a city

That merely captures the essence of venice, can we afford it?

The replica in dalian cost more than $8 billion.

♪

Rather than starting from the ground up,

Why don't we try to save of the city's renowned architecture

These western architectural styles can act

So in some ways you don't even really need to go

And build another venice somewhere else,

Because it's already been done

In lots of places around the world.

Narrator: In 1999, the venetian resort hotel

Opened on the vegas strip.

It cost $1.5 billion.

But that's nothing compared

To what's being created in china.

China has been in the midst

Of a massive movement in duplitecture.

An eiffel tower, a baroque flourish --

♪

In some ways like a chanel logo on a purse.

Narrator: China's closest copy of venice

Is in the northern sea port of dalian,

Part of a neighborhood that has reproductions

Of all kinds of european buildings.

It will even include over two miles of canals with gondoliers.

It's a monument to how big china is now on the world's stage.

It's a way of showing, "we're so powerful, we can do it, too,"

Perhaps even faster

And sometimes actually bigger than the original.

Narrator: Another small town in china