Saudi Arabia is difficult to switch from fossil fuels, especially considering its reputation as a major exporter of world oil. However, this Kingdom is trying various ways to be environmentally friendly, one of which is by building a futuristic city.
The construction of this futuristic city has started. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman first announced plans for the city, known as The Line, in January. The target is that by 2024, residents of Saudi Arabia will be able to move to the city.
Quoted from the Daily Mail, a group of bulldozers are currently working on digging and tunneling through the mountains. This was done to install three layers of the city: a surface area for pedestrians, and two underground layers for transportation and infrastructure. The city will stretch for 168 km. If you imagine what it will be like, see the picture below.
"This is a huge effort, not even 1% of the work required to plan and build The Line is completed," said the project's chief executive, Nadhmi Al-Nasr.
Instead of building from one starting point and building, Al-Nasr added that the developer is considering starting from two points of development towards the center.
Stretching from the mountains of northwest Saudi Arabia to the Red Sea, The Line will accommodate up to 1 million people. There will be no cars in this city, because transportation needs are connected by super fast trains.
Meanwhile, to get to schools, restaurants, shops, and other destinations within a short distance, can be reached in five minutes on foot. The Line also promises that all trips in this city will not take more than 20 minutes.
This linearly installed underground infrastructure is also claimed to not damage the environment. Instead, this infrastructure is said to help preserve 95% of Saudi Arabia's natural landscape.
The Line is the first part of Neom, a $500 billion mega project to build the city, which will cover 25,889 sq km of Saudi Arabia's Tabuk province, near the borders with Jordan and Egypt.
Neom itself comes from a combination of the Greek words neos, which means new, and the Arabic mustaqbal which means future. It is part of an ambitious plan to rid Saudi Arabia of its oil dependence and turn the country into a Silicon Valley-like tech hub.
The plan, the metropolitan city which is divided into 16 regions will rely on 'wind fields', solar power, and cutting-edge technology that converts water into oxygen and hydrogen for environmentally friendly fuels.