The Preface to this short book speculates that population and environmental pressures bring the prospect of “sea-cities” and other futuristic offshore constructions a step nearer to reality. The author’s declared objective is “to deal with those legal aspects … which are related to the international regime governing the construction and operation of immovable artificial islands and installations on the seas …” (p. 1). After pointing to the absence of a definition of these terms in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea 1982 (LOSC), the author proceeds to examine the legal issues to which artificial islands and installations give rise under the international law of the sea, primarily as set out in the LOSC. The starting point is the zonal demarcation of maritime areas, from the territorial sea to the seabed beyond the limits of national jurisdiction. Using this framework, the author explores a number of key issues: the rights of states and private entities to construct artificial islands and installations; the allocation of jurisdiction over the same and regulation of their removal when abandoned or disused; the protection of the marine environment from pollution and the dumping of wastes; and state responsibility for harm caused to that environment.