There are many constructive views and fair queries about this megastructure.. Yet; I believe that there are a huge biz plan behind this project; which time will expose.. Fairly, the engaged teams are fiercely confronting lots of loose ends and inconclusive issues
As the city grew, additional sectors would be added to the end, so that the city would become longer, without growing wider. The idea was later promoted by the Soviet planner Nikolay Alexandrovich Milyutin in the late 1920s
Some examples of linear cities are The ‘Ciudad Lineal’ a district in Madrid that takes a form of a city 400 meters wide, centered on a tramway. A classic example of the linear city is Volgograd stretching 100 Km along the Volga River— one of the largest cities centers in the South of Russia.
The idea of the linear city has had a special place amongst the many architectural concepts and utopian theories developed over the years.
One of the advantages of a linear city is the the close connection with nature and the natural landscape. Other positive qualities of a linear development are flexibility and openness for growth. The advantage of linear development is that all structures are close to the main transportation line and easily accessible in terms of time and effort.
Waleed Shaalan
Co Founder and Design Director of Sifr Studio
A Megastructure of 500 meter Tall and 170 km Long.. Imagine..!!
Last year, the de facto ruler of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, announced his grand vision to build The Line, a linear city with skyscrapers that run for miles and house millions of people. The Wall Street Journal has now viewed plans and documents to make this happen and published details of what the project might actually look like.
The largest exporter of crude oil, Saudi Arabia, is looking to diversify its source of income, given that the world is moving away from fossil fuels. Among its plans to do so, is building an economic hub at the "crossroads of the world" where more than 40 percent of the world's population can reach by a flight that's just a few hours.
The city itself is being designed to use high-speed underground transit systems that will bring destinations within a 20-minute commute. The city's linear nature will negate the need for personal transport and the problems that ail cities today.
What will the city look like?
According to the recent internal documents reviewed by WSJ, the two buildings running in parallel will be 1,600 feet (487 m) tall and are dubbed the Mirror Line. In comparison, the Empire State Building is 1,454 feet (443 m) tall. Additionally, the difference is that the skyscrapers at The Line will run along for 75 miles (120 km), stretching across the desert, mountain, and coastal terrains.
The buildings on either side will be connected with walkways, while plans for vertical farming have been incorporated into the design to help feed the residents of the city. In the coastal area, a marina for yachts has been planned, while a sports stadium to be constructed 1,000 feet (304 m) above ground level is meant for the entertainment of the crowds apart from the regular fare like theatres, malls, and restaurants that you can expect in the city.
The ambitious plan to build a new city in the middle of nowhere to attract people and investors from around the world is expected to cost the Kingdom's treasury a trillion dollars. However, the finances may not be the biggest hurdles facing the project.
Challenges ahead for The Line Project
Employees at Neom are concerned that after the coronavirus pandemic, people are not very keen on staying in high-rises, while the sheer scale of the project will alter the groundwater flow in the area.
The high-rise buildings also pose a hurdle in the path of millions of migratory birds that use the corridors every year, while the project will also displace tribal people living in the area, which are being forcibly removed to make way for the project, WSJ reported previously.
The scale of the project will also require the use of autonomous systems to harvest and bundle vegetables, while shared kitchens and canteens will also be needed to feed the workforce.
The curvature of the Earth presents problems in the construction of the city, which is planned with 2,600-foot (762 m) modules. However, the biggest challenge would be how rapidly this can be done.
Last year, an impact assessment report stated that the project could be completed in five decades. However, the visionary of the plan, the Crown Prince, wants it to be completed by 2030.
Can the planners and engineers execute a never-done-before project in such a short time? Only time will tell.
A View from an Expert
Peter Dalkeith Scott
Expert in Sustainable, Livable and 15 minute City Development and have created and directed mega projects
I will preface this by saying how most of the giga projects in Saudi are amazingly well developed and I know it is not fashionable to criticise these developments in Saudi but…,
There is something wrong with the planning and scale of Neom, Saudi Arabia.
170 kms long, 500m high walls of glass, (the equivalent of 5 football fields laid end to end), 9 million people. “Zero gravity”???
It just does not make sense if you compare to the world’s great cities.
For example, In 2020, London had a population of approximately 9 million residents. To house these people, the city has approximately 3.6 million dwellings.
New York City has a similar number of apartments for just over 8 million residents.
Paris around 1,500,000 housing units for over 2 million residents.
Dubai has around 450,000 apartments.
Sydney, about 100,000.
So Neom will need over 3 million apartments to house 9 million people at an average of 2.7 people per apartment (an Australian standard).
When the first phase apartments come online buyers will have to reconcile that there will be a supply of 3 million more to complete the Neom vision.
Does not sound like a feasible investment as supply will exceed demand and, as illustrated so far, Neom does not come close to the quality of life in London, NYC, Paris Dubai or Sydney.
I mean it would be cool to be at the seaside end but the middle or other end? Maybe not.
Added to that the isolation, reliance on desalination, massive energy demand, and being stuck in a 500 meter high wall of apartments with no external balconies, and then there are the sandstorms that will enter the void and ugh.
just seems wildly awful.
If there are no cars- electric or otherwise, how will people travel to other places in Saudi?
Will there be carparking for this? One car per apartment equals over 3 million parked cars!
Will Neom have it’s own prisons? Police and security forces?
A big idea for sure.
Inspired by Star Wars, maybe?
The marketing spin will be amazing and entertaining, for sure.
Best of luck
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