Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz of Saudi Arabia unveiled plans for a new carbon-neutral metropolis called “The Line” in NEOM. In January 2021, he unveiled his initial vision for the smart city, which reimagines urban development and the design of the cities of the future.
The design of ‘The Line’ shows how futuristic urban communities will be free from roads, cars and emissions, run on renewable energy, prioritise people’s health and contribute to preserving 95 per cent of NEOM’s land.
The size of ‘The Line’ will be 200 meters wide, 170 kilometers long and 500 meters above sea level. It will be able to accommodate 9 million residents and will be built on a footprint of 34 square kilometers.
Its ideal climate all year round will ensure that residents can enjoy surrounding nature when walking around, in addition to a high-speed rail with an end-to-end transit of 20 minutes.
“The designs revealed for the city’s vertically layered communities will challenge the traditional flat, horizontal cities and create a model for nature preservation and enhanced human livability. ‘The Line’ will tackle challenges facing humanity in urban life today and will shine a light on alternative ways to live,” said the Crown Prince.
He added, “NEOM is leading a team of the brightest minds in architecture, engineering and construction to make the idea of building upwards a reality. It will be a place for all people from across the globe to make their mark on the world in creative and innovative ways. NEOM remains one of the most important projects of Saudi Vision 2030, and our commitment to delivering ‘The Line’ on behalf of the nation remains resolute.”
According to NEOM’s Twitter handle, “‘Designed by world-leading architects to revitalise urban living, ‘The Line’ is a city that offers a healthier and more sustainable way of life. It will be an architectural marvel running in a straight line from the mountains of NEOM to the Red Sea. A city built to deliver a new future for humanity.”
The city will have an outer mirror facade that will provide its unique character and allow even its small footprint to blend with nature, while the interior will be built to create extraordinary experiences and magical moments.
The city’s design will be completely digitised, and the construction industrialised to a large degree by using advanced construction technologies and manufacturing processes.
In recent developments, NEOM and Saudia, the country’s national carrier, have sealed a strategic partnership to launch a weekly service to international destinations from NEOM Bay Airport, marking the start of commercial services at the airport.
While, Oracle has announced that NEOM Tech & Digital Company, the technology company powering the first cognitive digital ecosystem at NEOM, has selected Oracle dedicated region Cloud@Customer to create a scalable platform for all mission-critical IT workloads.
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