Intended to be a 110 miles long smart city with a population of nine million, resulting in a population density 38 times that of Hong Kong, Saudi Arabia’s ‘The Line’ raises questions as to whether it is merely a vanity project or an effective plan for some futuristic utopia.
Located in the province of Tabuk, near the border with Egypt, it is estimated to cost around $200 bn (some estimates placing it near $1 tn) and bring more than 400,000 jobs to the region.
Read more: A look into Saudi Arabia’s ‘The Line’: a futuristic utopia or dystopia?
- The Line will be 170 km long and will form part of the metropolis of NEOM;
- Project is promoted by Mohammed bin Salman, prime minister and crown prince of the country;
- Saudi Arabia wants to create the world’s first fully smart city.
In January 2021, Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman announced the construction of a futuristic megacity called The Line. The project shocked the world by proposing an urban construction in a straight line, which would dispense with the use of cars by residents.
During a panel session titled ‘The Evolution of Urban Life’, Adel bin Ahmed Al Jubeir, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs and Climate Envoy for Saudi Arabia, said: "The Line will revolutionise the way people look at cities and urban planning. Neom is an attempt to create a city that is environmentally friendly, sustainable, that has a very high quality of life, but virtually no traffic.
Saudi Arabia’s smart city Neom offers a new model for environmentally-friendly and sustainable urban design, both for the kingdom and the world, said its climate envoy at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland.
Read more: SA: Saudi smart city Neom 'new model for sustainable urban design'
TAWAL, the leading integrated ICT infrastructure provider in the Kingdom, has announced its participation at LEAP 2023 as a “Diamond Sponsor” of the global tech event. For the second year running, from February 6 to February 9, 2023, at Riyadh Front Expo Centre, TAWAL is set to take part and make its presence felt at the global platform for future technologies showcasing its capabilities and diverse range of leading-edge solutions.
As an exhibitor, TAWAL will welcome guests and attendees to its engaging “Interactive City”, immersing visitors in an experience that shines a light on the provider’s state-of-the-art solutions.
Read more: SA: TAWAL to showcase its new smart city infrastructure solutions during LEAP 2023
His Excellency Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Council of Ministers and Climate Envoy Professor Adel bin Ahmed Al Jubeir said that the NEOM smart city will provide the Kingdom and the world with a new model for sustainable and green urban design. The World Economic Forum announced today that the Line project will take the concept of smart cities and urban planning to another dimension, and the NEOM project is a step towards creating an environmentally friendly and sustainable city with a high quality of life and low traffic.
On the other hand, HE Minister of Investment, Engineer Khalid Al-Falih, participated in the Dialogue Session “Reengineering Value Chains” through which he explained the goals that the national initiative for global supply chains, the Newly Launched Kingdom, should achieve and how to benefit from the resources, infrastructure and geography of the Kingdom to increase the flexibility of local and global supply chains