Neom (NEOM)

Main article: Smart cities

History

2022

Start of construction of The Line city

In mid-October 2022, it became known that the implementation of The Line's unique, super-scale and very expensive project to build a futuristic city in the desert began in Saudi Arabia. It is part of an even larger NEOM project.

The megastructure with mirrored facades will be located near the Red Sea. The length of the metropolis will be approximately 170 km - it will stretch into a line (hence the name). The height of the grandiose structure will reach 500 m, width - 200 m. About 9 million people will be able to permanently live in the city.

The Line City Project

The infrastructure will include residential, shopping and entertainment areas, as well as schools and parks. It is planned to use exclusively renewable energy sources so as not to harm the environment. A large number of green spaces will allow the interior buildings to merge with nature. For The Line project, it is planned to deploy an underground transport system. It will give you the opportunity to get from one end of the city to the other in just 20 minutes. All necessary communications will also be located under the surface.

Reportedly, the construction site is being prepared. Dozens of excavators clear the area and dig a huge trench for the foundation and transport channel. Construction is scheduled to be completed by 2030. The cost of building a megastructure is estimated at $500 billion.

The Line is part of the Saudi Vision 2030 initiative, which, in accordance with Saudi plans, will create 380,000 jobs and increase the country's GDP by $48 billion. However, there are already heated discussions about the fact that the project of a unique city violates human rights. Thus, several members of the Al-Huwaitat tribe who refused to leave their homes to make way for construction were sentenced to death.^[1][2]

Saudi Crown Prince's IT Company Invests $1 Billion in Artificial Intelligence and Metaverse

On September 27, 2022, NEOM Tech & Digital, a subsidiary of the NEOM project to build the state-of-the-art, innovative city of Neom, worth $500 billion, invested $1 billion in 2022 in AI, including the metaverse platform. Read more here.

2021: Start of the "linear city" project for $500 billion

In mid-January 2021, Saudi Arabia began implementing an ambitious plan and began building a "linear city" with a zero carbon emissions of 170 km. The construction of a futuristic metropolis without cars and roads should cost the country $500 billion.

Prince Mohammed bin Salman

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman announced the launch of The Line project. The project is part of the Neom strategy aimed at diversifying the Saudi economy and abandoning oil dependence. It is estimated that the new city will have a million residents from all over the world, and transport will take place underground.

The Line City of the Future Project

Throughout human history, cities have been built to protect their citizens. But after the industrial revolution, cities began to give preference to cars, cars and factories, and not people, "said the crown prince. Why should we sacrifice nature for development? Why should seven million people die every year because of pollution?

The crown prince said conventional cities needed to be transformed into futuristic cities to address these issues and introduced the environmental-focused project The Line. This city consists of three levels, the upper of which is located above the ground and devoid of cars and highways, and the other two levels are located underground and are responsible for infrastructure and transport. By 2030, up to a million people will be able to live in the city, the project will create up to 380 million jobs and will be able to contribute up to $48 billion to the country's economy.

The Line developers claim that all everyday services will be located five minutes walk from the houses, and a trip from one area to another will take no more than 20 minutes. The city will also use AI, which will predict the behavior of residents and "improve daily life." However, experts are not sure that the plan is realistic.^[3]

2019: City construction plans

In August 2019, it became known that Saudi Arabia (KSA) wants to build a super-city of the future in the middle of the desert. This is not the first paradise city conceived by the Saudis. Back in 2005, the KSA sheikhs announced plans to build a mega-city on the shores of the Red Sea, but the plans remained on paper.

The new city was named NEOM. It should be located on the coast of the Arabian Peninsula near the border with Jordan. According to the initiators of the project, the city should overtake Silicon Valley, Hollywood and the French Riviera, combined, in terms of development.

It is planned that artificial intelligence (AI) will manage the city, and robots should become service personnel for Neom residents.

How do its creators see Neom?

1) The city will be erected on the site of the desert, but artificial rains and irrigation systems will turn the city into a flowering oasis. It is planned that always fresh food will be grown here to the table of local residents.

2) The city should become the world's largest science city and center of attraction for young scientists from around the world. It is planned to create a high-tech and safe city, which will have all the conditions and infrastructure for scientific activities.

3) The city will be "smart," that is, AI will analyze the actions and movements of each resident based on Big Data technologies: "This should be an automated city in which we can observe everything," the documents of the constituent council of the project say, "a city where a computer can notify about crimes without having to report them and where you can track all citizens."

4) Neom will have autonomy, they plan to release him from direct subordination to the KSA authorities. This will allow investors to make decisions at every stage of the construction and development of the project.

If the project is implemented, it may become the prototype of the cities of the future.

2017: Crown Prince Mohammed Salman al Saud announces plans for new super city

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Salman al Saud announced in October 2017 the construction of a new super city, described as "the most ambitious project in history." The state plans to spend $500 billion on its construction and is actively looking for investors, promising to create a new type of high-tech settlement with its own laws from scratch on empty land. It will be called Neom. The Russian Direct Investment Fund has promised to participate in the project^[4]

The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) will become one of the co-investors in the construction of the "metropolis of the future" Neom in Saudi Arabia. This was stated by the general director of the fund Kirill Dmitriyev, writes TASS Information Agency of Russia. "RDIF, together with partners, are ready to invest several billion dollars in this project," Dmitriyev explained.

The fund sees specific investment objects in solar power, healthcare, the construction of port infrastructure and in the field of artificial intelligence. Separately, Dmitriyev highlighted high-speed transport, in particular, the Hyperloop project. Recall that the Russian billionaire Ziyavudin Magomedov became the co-chairman of the board of directors of the leading innovative company for the construction of such routes Hyperloop One. The fund also intends to involve leading domestic companies working in the field of high technologies in the implementation of the project, Dmitriyev added. Which companies are in question is not yet clear.

The new city of Neom is proposed to be built on a plot of land with an area of ​ ​ 25 thousand square kilometers (area, say, New York - 1200 square kilometers) on the shores of the Red Sea near the borders of Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Egypt. The description of the project says that the city will be located on the territory of all three countries, although so far neither Cairo nor Amman has commented on these plans.

The city will receive electricity from solar panels and other renewable energy sources. Scientists in the new city will develop new ways to store natural resources and energy - both based on existing technologies and with the help of those that the world has not yet heard about.

Neom will have fully sustainable transport and the city itself will be the link between Africa and Asia. The city will provide itself with food through new technologies as well as farms using seawater. Neom's science labs will focus on developing biotechnologies and innovative manufacturing methods. The city is supposed to attract talent from all fields, including the arts.

The presentation notes that the plot of land proposed for the construction of the city is successful in terms of climate, since the average temperature here is 10 degrees lower than in the rest of the Persian Gulf countries. The cool wind from the Red Sea makes the climate pleasant, it is an "idealistic and peaceful desert."

It is assumed that Neom will be a kind of state in the state, or even an independent entity with its own laws and tax rules and "electronic government"; the main goal of the project is the creation of an "idealistic society."

How this will all be realized is not the slightest idea. Neom right now is a list of promises framed in beautiful slides, without explaining how to fulfill these promises. The situation with investors is not very clear either; so far, the Russian Direct Investment Fund has announced its participation in the project - but on what conditions, it has not been reported.