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Led by Alfredo Muñoz Herrero and his design team at ABIBOO Studio, this self-sufficient and sustainable city called Nüwa, located at Tempe Mensa, is destined for a slope on one of the Martian cliffs with abundant water access.

The project is part of an exhaustive scientific work for a competition organised by the Mars Society and developed by the Sustainable Offworld Network (SONet), an international team of scientists and academics, headed by the astrophysicist Guillem Anglada-Escudé.

The design includes five cities, with Nüwa as their capital. 

Each city houses between 200,000 and 250,000 people. Aside from Nüwa, the other cities follow the same urban strategy, such as Abalos City, located at the North Pole to leverage access to ice, or Marineris City, lying in the solar system’s most extensive canyon. 

In these Martian cities’ designs, we sought to define structures that would guarantee a habitat suitable for humans and other organic life forms. 

A steep terrain offers the opportunity to create a vertical city inserted into the rock, protected from radiation and meteorites while having access to indirect sunlight.

Nüwa has a population of 250,000 people. 

Its name has its roots in the mythological Chinese goddess that is the protector of Humans, who melted five stones to give robust societal pillars. 

Five locations instead of one are chosen to improve resilience, long term easy access to resources, and to add mobility options to the citizens of Mars. 

For example, Abalos City is located in the North Pole to leverage access to ice and Marineris City is located in the most extensive canyon of the solar system. 

Although the project divides human settlement into five cities, it offers a highly-scalable and flexible solution that can be implemented in many locations across Mars.

Sustainability, but especially self-sustainable development is at the core of the Nüwa design. For being self-sustainable, a settlement on Mars needs to be able to obtain all resources locally. 

After a short initial phase relying on capital investments and supplies from Earth, the system should be able to sustain its growth with local resources only.

The main activities are performed inside the cliff, in what are called “Macro-buildings,” which are excavations inside the rock of the cliff. 

These constructions, implemented after tunneling, are modular and include residential and work activities, linked together by a three-dimensional network of tunnels. 

By giving this standardization, the design ensures scalability and reduces complexity, costs, and construction schedules. 

When those tunnels reach the vertical Wall of the cliff, artificially created natural spaces function as buffer zones. 

They are named “Green-Domes,” and there are two types: those that allow human presence and act as parks, and those that include experimental vegetation in an environment with a purely Martian atmosphere. 

The “Macro-buildings” on the cliff are connected by high-speed elevator systems, similar to skyscrapers on Earth. 

This infrastructure also connects the bottom of the cliff with the top and has intermediate stops at the “sky-lobbies,” that connect the “Macro-buildings” with a separate elevating system. 

At the base and top of the Wall, a system of light trains and buses is used to move in the longitudinal direction of the cliff. 

City to city transport is done with trains of buses/ wagons on paved roads.  The highest point of the cliff is Mesa. 

This vast plain contains the infrastructure dedicated to manufacturing, food production, and energy generation. 

Agricultural and energy production facilities require direct access to sun radiation but do not need a shield from radiation, as only maintenance personnel and robotics will be operating there. 

Crop cultivation would be the main food production source, providing 50% of the human diet, while processing CO2 into O2 and taking part in the water processing system. 

Although crops can provide a tastier and more varied diet than microalgae, those are more efficient in terms of space and resource utilization, while also contributing to atmosphere revitalization and water management. 

Thus, microalgae would be the principal component of the human diet. 

At the foot of the cliff, large pavilions have been located for social interaction in the Valley. 

These pavilions have been designed with translucent skin to offer views of the landscapes of Mars. 

These domes are protected from external radiation by large overflying canopies. 

The material from the cliff’s excavation is dumped on top of such roofs, protecting from radiation. 

At the same time, this strategy ensures recyclability even at a large-scale. 

In the Valley, there are also specific structures to house hospitals, schools and universities, sports and cultural activities, shopping areas, and train stations that communicate with the space shuttle. 

Farming areas for animals and insects have been located at the Valley, close to communal city areas, as they need a human-like atmosphere to live. 

Typical farm animals such as pigs, chickens, or fish would also be included, but would represent a small part of the human diet: such animals are very inefficient but provide a high psychological value. 

The landscape is a fundamental element in Nüwa and its sister cities.  The location itself, being able to live inside a cliff, is a powerful emotional experience. 

The integration of the buildings with the landscape transforms the city into a land-art, creating a unique identity for its citizens. 

Additionally, arts will be a critical part of Society on Nüwa. Each Macro-Building includes Art-Domes to encourage and inspire the citizens. 

Recreation facilities engage citizens in physical activities such as sports, games and fitness, social activities, camping, and arts & crafts activities. 

For getting from Earth to Mars, a regular shuttle service should be able to function, with launch windows opening approximately every 26 months and lasting between one and three months. 

For settlers, one Mars ticket will have an approx. the price tag of $300K and it includes a one-way trip, one residential unit of ~25-35 m2/person, full access to common facilities, all life support services & food, and a binding work contract to devote between 60% and 80% of their work time to tasks assigned by the city. 

Nüwa and its sister cities exponentially accommodate their population. 

After an initial short period of capital investment and supply from Earth, this urban development on Mars maintains and grows by its means and sustainable manner.  All the materials required for constructing the city are obtained on Mars by processing Carbon and other minerals.

Project: The City of Nüwa
Architects: ABIBOO Studio with SONet 
Design Team: Guillem Anglada-Escudé, Alfredo Muñoz Herrero, Miquel Sureda, Gisela Detrell, Ignasi Casanova, David Cullen, Miquel Banchs i Piqué, Gonzalo Rojas, Engeland Apostol, Sebastián Rodríguez, Verónica Florido, Philipp Hartlieb, Laia Ribas, Owen Hughes Pearce, and
David de la Torre 
Collaborators: Jordi Miralda Escudé, Rafael Harillo GomezPastrana, Lluis Soler, Paula Betriu, Uygar Atalay, Pau Cardona, Oscar Macia, Eric Fimbinger, Stephanie Hensley, Carlos Sierra, Elena Montero, Robert Myhill, and Rory Beard 
Sponsors: ABIBOO Studio, CSIC, UPC, University of Stuttgart, Cranfield University, IEEC, Montan Universitat Loeben, University of Portsmouth
Clients: Mars Society and Offworld Network (SONet)