The Pyramids of Giza, the Great Wall of China, and now the Line. It sounds hyperbolic but that's the sort of scale and ambition that the creators of Saudi Arabia's city sized skyscraper are aiming for and, despite our initial skepticism that it would actually be realized, work is indeed progressing.
To quickly recap, the Line is a massive mirrored structure that is expected to house a city of around 9 million, which is a population roughly equivalent to that of New York City.
As well as measuring 170 km (105 miles) in length, it'll have a height of 500 m (1,640 ft) and a width of just 200 m (656 ft). Obviously there are huge practical hurdles to be tackled, not to mention alleged human rights violations and ecological issues, but Saudi Crown Prince and de facto ruler Mohammed bin Salman has expressed his desire to see it built.
Work is now well underway and a new video provided by Neom shows the world's largest earthworks stretching across the desert into the distance, with excavators and lines of trucks busy preparing the necessary foundations for the building. The scale is incredible and work continues 24/7 to move around millions of cubic meters of soil and water each week.
The Line is the most notable part of the upcoming Neom giga-project in Saudi Arabia but there have been an incredible number of other projects underway in the country too as it attempts to transition from a primarily oil-based economy to that of a tourist destination, including a cuboid skyscraper large enough to hold 20 Empire State Buildings, a pair of spectacular skyscrapers, and a cliff-hanging arena.
The first phase of The Line project is expected to be completed in 2030 but no doubt there will still be a lot of work left to do beyond that point.
Source: Neom
And just how will they cool this thing as every sqm is 1kw plus of heat from the sun x many hrs/day? They'd really do better building more than half underground. In about 5 yrs the bottom will fall out of the oil, NG markets and the Saudis, Putin, Iran, others will be broke as RE which now cost 50-80% less than FF power and EVs can cost the same as ICEs as battery prices are now so low, just won't be long before FFs are gone in 20 yrs.
there are investing in tons of companies. they're doing these big projects to turn the internal economy in the future into something else basically by trying to become like a multicultural hub.
but there's two families, the sauds, whom the country is named after, and the wahhabs, who were also around when the country was formed the third time, and they control the religious stuff of the country. monarchy is much much much more powerful than them. and has been kind of attempting to prepare them to be like western, because the royal family themselves are very western. but the people aren't necessarily and the region is not necessarily friendly towards that, but they're trying it anyway because they're hoping that people from Europe basically and the US will move to these gigantic cities to be like tech and trade hubs basically.
Will it be so expensive that it just gathers dust?
Maybe it will it become a tourist theme park that a few people go to once.
Are there really 9 million rich people who want to move there? Why would people move there?