Drone Footage Shows Saudi Arabia’s Futuristic Megacity Construction Is Underway
The Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia is planning to build a state-of-the-art megacity lined by mirrored walls and running the length of the Tabuk desert. The Line, as it is called, has been appointed to host the Asian Winter Games in 2029.
The city is estimated to cost US$500 billion and looks to provide a new home for nine million people. It would deliver not only housing but schools, business districts, medical centers, and entertainment hubs within its walls so that people would never have to leave it.
Images and plans released by Neom, the company behind the project, had people believing that it was too idealistic and too much like it was plucked right out of a sci-fi movie to be considered a real architectural spectacle that would ever take place.
Many criticized The Line, questioning its ambitious green practices as it touted itself to be the first in the world to be solely powered by renewable energy.
Despite the conjecture, it seems like Saudi Arabia is determined to prove the world wrong, as drone shots taken by Ot Sky have shown that construction is well underway.
Saudi Arabia’s 500-metre tall mirrored linear city is now under construction. This footage by @otskydrone captured part of the massive site that will eventually stretch for 170-kilometres across the desert. #construction #engineering #architecture pic.twitter.com/VnGEnR4xqB
— The B1M (@TheB1M) October 19, 2022
The footage depicts several excavators pushing sand out of the way to make space for the foundation to be built. The Line is set to stand at 105 miles long and is determined to make all its facilities so interconnected that it removes the need for transport. It’s safe to say there is still a long way to go before it is anywhere near completion.
The Line is just one of 10 projects from Neom that is turning this region of desert into a new living and travel hub. Earlier it was announced that one of its mountainous regions—which is being turned into a ski resort in the heart of the desert—will host the Asian Winter Games.
[via Dezeen and The National, cover image via Neom]
