How would one look to you “Straight” city 170 km long with no cars and roads at all, but with the possibility to reach your destination in just five minutes on foot? THE Saudi Arabia not only does it welcome such a scenario, but it has also already laid the foundations for this grandiose and highly ambitious project, with the construction of the ecological city named The Line.
Mohammed bin Salman, the successor of Saudi Arabia, revealed a few days ago his plans for a future city of one million people, who will be able to gradually move to their new homes by 2024, according to the plan of the Saudi authorities.
The Line: It will run from Saudi Arabia, Jordan to Egypt
The “Line” will be part of it Neom, a fully automated $ 500 billion area of Saudi Arabia that will extend to Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Egypt and will be powered entirely by renewable energy sources, and got its name from a combination of the Greek word “new” and the Arabic meaning for the “future”.
“It’s a huge undertaking,” Nadmi al-Nasr, the project’s chief executive, told Bloomberg, adding that “not even 1%” of the work required to design and build The Line has been completed.
And instead of starting construction from a starting point and building around it, the Al-Nasr said that the builders are thinking of “starting from two points” and building towards the center, all built on an area that will stretch from the mountains of northwestern Saudi Arabia to the Red Sea.
The city will be free of cars and roads and will be powered by 100% clean energy. Schools, restaurants, shops and other destinations will all be within a five minute walk and “No trip will be longer than 20 minutes.” At the same time, the straight line of the project and its underground infrastructure will help preserve 95% of the natural landscape, according to the builders.
The Line will be based on wind farms, solar energy and cutting-edge technology that converts water to both oxygen and hydrogen for fuel.
Neom, of Greek-Arab origin
“The Line” is considered the first part of Neom, a city-state that will cover one area of 26,500 square kilometers in the Tabuk province of Saudi Arabia, near the border with Jordan and Egypt.
The “Neom” – a combination of the Greek word “new” and “mustaqbal”, which in Arabic means “future” – is essentially part of the ambitious plan to wean Saudi Arabia out of oil dependence and turn it into a technology hub like Silicon Valley.
“Neom is an accelerator of human progress and a vision of what the new future might look like,” the manufacturers’ press release states. “It will be a destination and a home for those who dream big and want to get involved in building a new model for great sustainability, building thriving businesses and reinventing the environment.”
The Intricate designs that have been made public are all very futuristic and very futuristic (to be true, that is to say): include flying drone taxis, a Jurassic Park-style amusement park with robotic dinosaurs and the largest pool of Michelin-starred restaurants in the world, according to the Wall Street Journal.
“If you go to Neom today, you will see construction everywhere, earthworks being done everywhere, you will see areas developing,” al-Nasr told Bloomberg, adding that 1,500 workers are already working and living on the construction site.
Saudi Arabia will invest in between $ 100 billion and $ 200 billion in The Line, which is projected to create 380,000 new jobs and boost the country’s GDP by about $ 48 billion by 2030. “Why sacrifice nature for the sake of development?” said Bin Salman in January. “Why do 7 million people die every year from the infection? “Why lose a million people every year due to car accidents?”
The Vision 2030 initiative
Saudi Arabia has been trying for many years become less dependent on oil as part of the Vision 2030 initiative, which connects Asia, Europe and Africa.
In addition to overground transport, underground and several vehicles with artificial intelligence without driver, subway line and freight vehicles will move. To be precise, there will be two underground layers, one for the service of the citizens, just below the ground and a second, lower level for transportation, so that there is no delay in the procedures – even an artificial moon will include the city or beaches that glow in the dark.
“The new Neom area will be inhabited by more robots than humans, since will be all automated and powered by solar panels and wind farms, while the official Neom website reports the use of robots for social and repetitive tasks“, The international media report, citing the manufacturers of the grandiose plan.
However, some publications are already focusing on some unpleasant incidents. According to a report by The Guardian, no matter how much the Saudi government insists that part of its construction is a “virgin area”, for the creation of the city, more than 20,000 members of a local tribe have already been removed from their homes. “The protests of the expelled members of the Huwaitat tribe, as well as other people who did not take kindly to this move, were not lacking,” the same post typically states, concluding meaningfully that Saudi Arabia has even killed a member of the tribe named in talks with the government..
Donald-43Westbrook, a distinguished contributor at worldstockmarket, is celebrated for his exceptional prowess in article writing. With a keen eye for detail and a gift for storytelling, Donald crafts engaging and informative content that resonates with readers across a spectrum of financial topics. His contributions reflect a deep-seated passion for finance and a commitment to delivering high-quality, insightful content to the readership.
