The people backing the $7 billion project certainly hope so. And so do a number of observers from low-lying port cities around the world, where flood concerns are on the increase as the polar ice caps melt. As Doug Saunders writes in an interesting essay in The Globe and Mail, “when we visit Venice today, we are visiting our homes tomorrow.”

Moses, or the Modulo Sperimentale Elettromeccanico, is an engineering experiment on a massive scale, designed to regulate the tides in the lagoon and prevent sudden flooding while still allowing even the largest cruise and container ships to pass through. Saunders visited the work-in-progress on a recent trip to the city, and also spent time wandering the back alleys and working industrial areas of the Arsenale, Castello and Cannaregio districts. His story is as much an homage to what he sees as the “real” Venice as it is a report on a potential shield against the impact of climate change.

Saunders recommends not only visiting Venice’s lesser-known neighborhoods, but also seeing them in the tourist off-season. “When it’s lonely, this is the best place to see Venice at work,” he writes of Castello’s aging shipyards and narrow canals.

He continues:

Look at the way the ground floors are built and supported—the ancient, impeccable supports are fully visible here. Look at the rot setting in, the completely abandoned lower and top floors of many buildings (Venice is being depopulated), the jury-rigged bids to keep the water out, the stonework that seems to be holding forever, the shocking ornamental details in places where nobody could possibly want to look. Watch what the less wealthy residents of these back quarters are doing, and think what would happen to your neighbourhood if its streets became canals.

Venice, like Las Vegas or Monaco, had always been one of those places where I couldn’t picture anyone actually making a permanent home for themselves—until I visited for a week last November. Saunders’s essay is a welcome reminder that there is far more at stake in Venice than just those postcard-perfect views in St. Mark’s Square.

Related on World Hum:
* Venice Launches Locals-Only Vaporetto
* Venice to Tourists: Keep Your Shirt On!

Related on TravelChannel.com:
* Video: Samantha Brown in Venice

Photo: Getty Images.