Saudi Arabia’s crown prince has announced plans to build a zero-carbon city at NEOM – its flagship $500 billion business zone. NEOM is a 26,500-square-km (10,230-square-mile) high-tech development on the Red Sea. It’s made up of several zones, including industrial and logistics areas, that should be ready in 2025. And now, the zero-carbon city called “The Line.”
The purpose of NEOM is to diversify the economy of the world’s largest oil exporter. At the moment, Saudi Arabia is among the most polluting countries.
Prince Mohammed bin Salman made the announcement during a rare television appearance.
He said the metropolis would extend over 170 km (105 miles) down a straight line, housing millions of residents from around the world in urban developments powered by 100% clean energy.
He said:
Why should we sacrifice nature for the sake of development? We need to transform the concept of a conventional city into that of a futuristic one.
Everything in The Line will be “within a five-minute walk of home,” and getting from one end to the other will take just 20 minutes. How? With a high-tech mode of subsurface transport called “The Spine” that connects individual city modules. It’s ultra-high-speed and AI-enabled.
According to the prince, The Line has been three years in the making. Its infrastructure will cost between $100 billion to $200 billion.
He also said:
The backbone of investment in ‘The Line’ will come from the $500 billion support to NEOM by the Saudi government, PIF, and local and global investors over ten years.
The PIF (Public Investment Fund) is the kingdom’s sovereign wealth fund. It’s the cornerstone investor in NEOM.
According to Prince Mohammed’s statement, the city will feature “zero cars, zero streets, and zero carbon emissions.” It will be the first development at NEOM.
The prince said:
Throughout history, cities were built to protect their citizens. After the industrial revolution, cities prioritized machines, cars, and factories over people.
In the world’s most progressive cities, people spend years of their lives commuting. By 2050 that trend will only double. And with those harrowing commutes, more people will die of pollution.
NEOM is a pillar of Prince Mohammed’s Vision 2030 plan to rid Saudi Arabia of its reliance on oil exports. Among other futuristic ideas for the green energy zone include artificial rain, an artificial moon, robot maids, and human gene-editing clinics.
The Line will link Jordan and Egypt via Saudi territory. It will have facilities like health centers, schools, and green spaces.
The project is expected to create 380,000 jobs and contribute $48 billion to the kingdom’s GDP by the end of the decade. Construction is set to begin within months.
