Sources say it is likely to house soldiers, border guards and secret service officers, as well as scientists and explorers, as Moscow gets serious about claiming Arctic mineral riches. All will enjoy a luxury lifestyle in the cocoon with its own specially regulated temperate climate – including many facilities to make inhabitants of other cities envious. “We aim to have scientific laboratories, houses, but also parks with attractions, an Aqua complex, hotels and a cathedral.
Naturally there will be schools, kindergartens, recreation zones, a hospital, and sport facilities are planned, too,” said Rzhevskiy, Russia’s top architects. The extraordinary venture – nicknamed ‘wonder city’ – will be built at a cost of up to £4 billion on the remote island of Kotelniy, in the Novosibirsk archipelago , some 1,000 miles from the North Pole, closer than any other Russian city. Strong winds make it one of the most inhospitable places on the planet, and even in summer it barely climbs over freezing point. The Umka designs are based on the International Space Station, but it is vast by comparison – just short of one mile long and 800 yards wide.
Electricity will be supplied by a floating nuclear power station. Food wise, it will be totally self-sufficient with fish and poultry farms, greenhouses, a wheat processing factory and bakeries. There will not be any rubbish at all, as the city will have two factories converting all kinds into ashes.
