It might seem like it has come from the pages of a futuristic sci-fi script but it’s actually a real life plan — Saudi Arabia is in the middle of constructing the world’s first ‘horizontal’ city filled with mirror-clad skyscrapers with only driverless cars, or so they claim.
The city of Neom is a £1.5 trillion mega-project designed to be the preamble of how Saudi wants to be viewed on the world stage, moving forward. Men and women are expected to mingle freely in this city (not a given in Saudia Arabia, though restrictions have eased in recent years) which began construction in 2017 with hopes to be inhabited by 2040, though suspicions on whether this is achievable grow year by year.
Nothing is simple in this uber-ambitious development – and it isn’t supposed to be. The project’s own website describes the yet-to-be-complete city as the “land of the future where the greatest minds and best talents are empowered to embody pioneering ideas and exceed boundaries in a world inspired by imagination.”
Watch the incredible vision for Neom below:
In 2022, work began to construct The Line – a futuristic linear smart city within Neom which would be housed in a single building. The Line would feature no cars, streets or carbon emissions and run entirely on renewable energy in a straight line spanning 110 miles – from the Red Sea to the city of Tabuk.
The smart city’s design is made up of two mirrored buildings with an outdoor space in between. It would measure 200m wide and 500m tall, making it the 12th tallest building in the world.
This Star Trek-esque concept will consist of three layers when inside – one for pedestrians, one underground for infrastructure and another underground for transport. All basic services are intended to be within five minutes walking distance for its proposed 9,000,000 residents.
Since its first announcement, plans are believed to have been scaled back by the Saudi government due to funding restrictions. However, this has been refuted by the Saudi minister for economy and planning who still hopes to complete 3 miles of The Line’s central segment by 2030 but has pushed completion back until 2045.
A project of this size does not come without its controversies, and Neom is no different. It is estimated that 20,000 people will be forced to make way for the project including the Howeitat tribe which has reportedly seen some of its members killed in eviction disputes. UN experts have also expressed alarm at the ‘executions’ of Howeitat members in the Neom building process.
Concerns have also been raised regarding the treatment of workers, citing an abusive work environment to meet the city’s schedule.
And in late 2024, the project’s CEO Nadhmi Al-Nasr departed the project, with no official reason given. Al-Nasr was appointed by Prince Mohammed bin Salman Another leading executive in the project, Andrew Wirth, left the project less than a year after joining it.