The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is building an artificial intelligence (AI)-powered futuristic city NEOM, which is not an ordinary one but an ambitious urban architecture marvel. Under NEOM, the Kingdom is designing a 200 meters wide, 170 kilometres long and 500 meters high urban horizontal skyscraper called The Line. It will house around 90 lakh people. Also, for starters, it'll have no cars to run on roads but flying cabs.
This megastructure, covered from both sides with high mirrored walls will have everything -- shopping malls, playgrounds, public parks and pedestrian areas, schools, homes and places for work, etc. The outer mirror facade will provide The Line with a unique character, say the project architects. All facilities in The Line will be available within a five-minute walk, in addition to a high-speed rail, with an end-to-end transit of just 20 minutes.
"Its ideal climate all year round will ensure that residents can enjoy surrounding nature when travelling on foot," they say.
However, not everyone is fully convinced about a project of this scale. They doubt the Saudi government's intent to finish phase 1 in just eight years, with everything in concept right now but no progress on the ground so far. Critics have also raised questions over the technical feasibility of the project, calling it a 'dystopian' idea.
More insights into the extraordinary ambitious project were revealed this week when Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman or MBS as he's famously known, revealed its designs. The initial idea and vision for the futuristic city were launched last year.
The concept of this futuristic city claims to put human health and the environment above development.
NEOM’s The Line project, also known as 'the city of the future', will be free from roads, cars and emissions and will run on 100% renewable energy. To be built on a footprint of 34 square km, the city is expected to reduce its infrastructure footprint and create never-before-seen efficiencies in city functions.
The Line will be designed under a concept called Zero Gravity Urbanism. There won't be any tall buildings but vertically-stacked neighbourhood communities, and people will be able to commute in a maximum of 20 minutes from one end of the city to the other.
People will be able to move seamlessly in three dimensions (up, down or across) in these structures, with all their daily needs within the five-minute reach.
The completely digitised city will be built using advanced construction technologies and manufacturing processes.
As per MBS, it'll be a civilisational revolution that puts "human" first based on "radical change" in urban planning. "THE LINE will tackle the challenges facing humanity in urban life today and will shine a light on alternative ways to live,” he adds.
MBS says NEOM will be a place for all people from across the globe to make their mark on the world in creative and innovative ways.
Announced in 2017, Neom is MBS' flagship futuristic project to make Saudi Arabia, which is the world's largest crude oil exporter. As the world moves aggressively towards renewable energy from fossil fuels, he wants to make the Gulf nation a tourism hub and an economic powerhouse.
The first phase of the project is expected to be completed in 2030, costing around 1.2 trillion Saudi riyals or $500 billion to the Gulf country. It will be funded by government subsidies, private funding and by the public. The government wants to launch the IPO of NEOM in 2024.
The word NEO means new in Greek and futurist in Arabic and was merged with M, the first letter of MBS. The NEOM city project The Line will cover 10,000 sq miles in Tabuk province of Saudi Arabia near its border with Jordan and Egypt.
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