Saudi Arabia appears to be giving it a run for its money, with dazzling new renderings showing the interior of the kingdom’s proposed 75-mile-long mirrored “landscape” city — the imagery of which looks straight out of a sci-fi movie. When completed, it will be taller than New York’s Empire State Building. The $1 trillion mega development is called The Line, part of a desert complex known as Neom, led by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, according to the Daily Mail. Overall, Neom – starting from the Gulf of Aqaba just east of Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula – will additionally include an artificial ski resort, as well as robots and artificial intelligence for the project’s inhabitants. Bin Salman, who is accused of authorizing the brutal killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018 (although he has denied involvement), is targeting Saudi Arabia – itself relatively recently open to tourism despite a history of violent religious policing – to it has a spectacle as eternal as the pyramids of Egypt. Saudi Arabia’s crown prince aims for the development to be as timeless as the pyramids in Egypt. NEOM/AFP via Getty Images Within the long-standing construction of the twin towers are lush green landscapes stretching upwards. NEOM/AFP via Getty Images The towers are reflected. NEOM/AFP via Getty Images The development could become home to 5 million residents. NEOM/AFP via Getty Images The Line aims to extend no less than 75 miles across desert and mountainous terrain. NEOM/AFP via Getty Images Nighttime could see an array of lights neon.NEOM/AFP via Getty Images This rendering shows hanging vegetation.NEOM/AFP via Getty Images The Line, according to this rendering, overlooks the surrounding landscape.NEOM/AFP via Getty Images There will also be a marina.NEOM/AFP via Getty ImagesAnother efficient view of the glass towers. NEOM/AFP via Getty Images The Line, needless to say, is ambitious – and the prince has set a target of completing it by 2030, although engineers have reportedly said the massive undertaking could take five decades to complete. NPR notes that, from new statistics and plans unveiled Monday, the development will rise taller than New York’s Empire State Building, residents can have what they need within a five-minute walk — and not there will be no cars and no roads. “The plans unveiled today for the vertical layered city communities will challenge traditional flat, horizontal cities and create a model for preserving nature and improving human sustainability,” Bin Salman said on Monday as he unveiled the designs. Not everyone was happy, with NPR adding that one commentator responded to a video posted by the kingdom’s news agency saying, “I’ve never seen anything more dystopian.” Construction has already begun on the project, which is financed by the government’s public investment fund. It will have two 1,600-foot-tall buildings that will run parallel to each other across a 75-mile strip of desert and mountains. Properties that run along this kind of distance must take the curvature of the planet into account for their construction, and for the sake of simple commuting, there will be a high-speed train that will run from end to end within 20 minutes. Inside, renderings show a dizzying network of towers hugging the lush landscape, a man-made river, neon lights, vertical farms and walkways overlooking the surrounding desert. There will even be a sports arena 1,000 feet above the ground. The development will house 5 million people, according to the Wall Street Journal, and will even include a marina for boats. It also plans to create thousands of jobs. That’s not to say Neom’s overall development was without further controversy. The Daily Mail notes that indigenous tribes were forcibly removed from the area and security reportedly shot and killed a resident.
