Neom: Meet The Futuristic Saudi City Under Construction

Saudi Arabia is building an all-new futuristic city in the desert. To some the ambitions are innovative but to others they are absurd.

There are a number of futuristic cities being proposed around the world (and even on the moon or on Mars - at least those can be forgiven for being out of this world). Most of these projects are unlikely to ever see the light of day, but one giga-project in Saudi Arabia is already underway.

Saudi Arabia is planning to build a zero-carbon city from scratch. NEOM, a mega urban project, will see all-new city innovations. At NEOM, there will be vertically layer homes, offices, public parks and schools within a mirrored façade stretching over 170 km (150 miles), Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said on Monday in remarks carried by state media.

The Prince first unveiled plans for "The Line" in January 2021, the first major construction project for the $500 billion NEOM business zone aimed at diversifying the economy of the world`s top oil exporter.

The plans for this all-new eco-city (called Neom) in the Arabian desert are impressive as they are ambitious. The plans include billions of trees to be planted in the desert nation, a fake moon, levitating trains, car-free, carbon-free, and even glow-in-the-dark beaches.

JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia (AFP) — A futuristic Saudi megacity is to feature two skyscrapers extending across a swath of desert and mountain terrain, according to the latest disclosures on the project by the kingdom’s de facto ruler.

The parallel structures of mirror-encased skyscrapers extending over 170 kilometers (more than 100 miles), known collectively as The Line, form the heart of the Red Sea megacity Neom, a plank of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s bid to diversify the Gulf state’s oil-dependent economy.

First announced in 2017, Neom has consistently raised eyebrows for proposed flourishes like flying taxis and robot maids, even as architects and economists have questioned its feasibility.

In a presentation Monday night, Prince Mohammed sketched out an even more ambitious vision, describing a car-free utopia that would become the planet’s most livable city “by far.”

NEOM is being called as what 'New Future might look like' by Saudi Arabia. Neom is a portmanteau of the Greek word neos, meaning "new," and mustaqbal, the Arabic word for "future." It is a futuristic mega-city 33 times the size of New York City.

NEOM is being built on the Red Sea in northwest Saudi Arabia. It can be imagined as a place where entrepreneurship and innovation would frame the course for this New Future. The city is being marketed as a new model for sustainable living, working and prospering. Saudi officials describe it as "the world's most ambitious project."

Ali Shihabi, a former banker now on Neom's advisory board, says the mega-territory will include a 170km (105m) long city, called The Line, which will run in a straight line through the desert.

If that sounds unlikely, Shihabi explains that The Line will be built in stages, block by block. "People say this is some crazy project that's going to cost gazillions, but it's going to be built module by module, in a manner that meets demand," he says.

Much like Barcelona's traffic-free "superblocks", he explains that each square will be self-sufficient and contain amenities such as shops and schools so that anything people need will be a five-minute walk or cycle away.

When complete, travel along The Line will be via hyper-speed trains, with the longest journey "never more than 20 minutes", the developers claim.

What's more, Neom will be home to Oxagon, a city floating on water spanning 7km (4.3 miles) - making it the largest floating structure in the world. Neom's chief executive, Nadhmi al-Nasr, has said the port city will "welcome its first manufacturing tenants at the beginning of 2022".

The Line is envisioned as a 200-metre-wide series of "modules" for different urban uses sandwiched between two 500-metre-high, 170-km-long mirrored exterior facades that cut through a vast array of desert and mountains. There will be hanging pathways, gardens and even a stadium.  Aiming to run on 100% renewable energy, the relatively compact design is meant to cut waste and minimize environmental impact. Its location has the "perfect" conditions to harness wind energy as well as solar power, the crown prince said.

Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest crude exporter, aims to reach "net zero" greenhouse gas emissions by 2060.The planned city will allow residents to feel more connected to nature.

"If you have money", he said, you should "raise the bar" and create something innovative and different. "Since we are doing it from nothing, why should we copy normal cities?" he added. I believe it's going to be the best livable area - by far - in the whole planet.

NEOM is open for business." NEOM is not about building a smart city, it is about building the first cognitive city, where world-class technology is fueled with data and intelligence to interact seamlessly with its population. Behind the scenes, the Saudis and other fossil fuel-dependent countries have consistently tried to water down language around international climate commitments, says Dr Depledge.

"This is very much the kind of rhetoric and the kind of language that Saudi Arabia has been promoting since the very beginning of the climate change negotiations." But Fahad Nazer, the government spokesman, denies allegations of greenwashing and insists that Saudi Arabia is heading towards a green future.

And though questions remain about whether Neom will live up to its promises, Ali Shihabi invites us to reserve a condo on The Line, "before anybody else does".

THINGS YOU MAY NOT KNOW: HOW MUCH WILL NEOM FUTUREISTIC CITY COST? Starting with a budget of $500 billion, MBS bills Neom as a showpiece that will transform Saudi Arabia’s economy and serve as a testbed for technologies that could revolutionize daily life including a ski slope and swim lanes for commuters.

THINGS YOU MAY WANT TO SAVE: YOUR  DIGITAL PASPORT WITH YOUR PHOTO IN CASE YOU WANT MORE OUTER WORLD EXPERIENCES...LIKE LIVING ON MARS OR THE MOON.

ZENTRAVELER SAYS: WANT TO BE PART OF THE FUTURE...RESERVE YOUR CONDO IN NEOM FUTUREISTIC CITY BEFORE THE PRICES GO THROUGH THE ROOF?

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