How Saudi Arabia is bringing science fiction into reality with their take on the future of urban living.
A glimpse into the future of city living
Saudi Arabia knows that they can’t rely on oil forever and are pursuing a strategy to diversify their economy away from the oil industry and create different revenue streams – from finance, IT, and tourism amongst other things. In 2017 they announced that they would allocate a region of 26,500 km2 (which is almost the size of Belgium) to build a new economic model for the country. It sits in north eastern part of Saudi Arabia bounded by the Red Sea in the South and the Gulf of Aqaba to the West. There will be four regions, The Line, Oxagon, Trojena and Sindalah.
The Line is planned to be a 170km linear city that will house 9 million people. Oxagon is an octagon shaped port city, Trojena is a ski resort in the Sarwat mountains and Sindalah is an island resort in the Red Sea. The first element scheduled for completion is Sindalah, and Trojena has already been awarded the 2029 Asian Winter Olympics – not without an element of scepticism!
A visual representation of “The Line”
The Line is the interesting one for me! The following is an extract from the Neom website:
The Line will eventually accommodate 9 million people and will be built on a footprint of just 34 square kilometres. This will mean a reduced infrastructure footprint, creating never-before-seen efficiencies in city functions. The ideal climate all-year-round will ensure that residents can enjoy the surrounding nature. Residents will also have access to all facilities within a five-minute walk, in addition to high-speed rail – with an end-to end transit of 20 minutes. The vision is to build a linear city 170 kilometres long and 200m wide. The images of the project show two parallel wall-like constructions enclosing the space between them. The Line will be encased in a mirror façade on the outside and the inside will be constructed to house layers of houses, public parks, pedestrian spaces, schools and workplaces. The height of the development is an astonishing 500 meters above sea level – walls that will be higher than the Empire State building. The concept of 3-dimensional living is brought into the project.”
There will be no roads, no cars and therefore no emissions. It will run on 100% renewable energy. Water will be recycled and the surrounding area will be re-natured. Crown Price Mohammed bin Salman said in a press release, “The Line will tackle the challenges facing humanity in urban life today and will shine a light on alternative ways to live.”
The city will have opera houses, libraries, stadiums and universities. It will be modular – with communities of 80,000 people (think suburbs, so you could live in one suburb and work in another). Their view is that with such a small footprint, the land will be given back to nature and balance will be created between the people and nature.
Most cities started as settlements that became villages, towns and then cities over hundreds of years. To build a city from scratch gives many opportunities to avoid inefficiency, congestion and urban sprawl. In a world of rapid urbanisation, could this be a good thing? Although it won’t all be built at once (it is expected to be completed by 2045) the masterplan includes how many theatres, police stations, schools and hospitals will be needed. A university will be built in the first module for instance, but the opera house may come in a later module.
There will be a high speed rail network which will link the airport to the Gulf of Aqaba, but there will also be a metro system that allows travel between the modules. And then it gets more freaky – there will be vertical travel systems too – you won’t need to go to the ground floor to catch the transport system. You could catch a horizontal lift that travels along one of the corridors at four different heights.
The Line won’t be built like a traditional city. The modules will be pre-engineered depending on what they will do. There will be simple process of optimised industrial production where things are made in large volumes. The city will be like a giant assembly kit that will be put together as and when the modules are needed. Even the plants will be chosen according to where they sit within the plan – plants will be planted according to where the sun will shine – some will have total sunlight and many will be chosen because they prefer shade or semi-shade. Green spaces and parks will be integrated into the city, and a lot of glass and mirrors will be used to create transparency.
Who will live there? The project is designed to have a strong technology, biomedical and education focus. Perhaps this will be a new Silicon Valley, a new M.I.T? If the city is designed to provide the best of everything in the world, will it lead to an ecosystem of incubation and proliferate ideas and inspiration. The developers hope to create this environment without the humidity of Singapore, the pollution of London, the poor weather of Paris and the high tax rates of Silicon Valley!
Saudi Arabia has a visionary leader and elsewhere in the world you would have political, financial and technological constraints, which are less of an obstacle in Saudi Arabia. This is blue-sky thinking and the project has commenced? It is ambitious to say the least, and it is very difficult to comprehend that such a city could be built in 20 years. But hey, you’ve got to start somewhere!
Below is an interesting documentary of the project. There are so many things to think about, good and bad. It’s just short of 10 minutes to watch and provides an interesting perspective on the project. I don’t think it would be my thing, but let me know what you think!?
Asset Class Returns
The table below represents a rolling year view of the major asset class returns that we track. It offers a view of the asset classes we use to diversify your portfolio.
A glimpse into the future of city living
Saudi Arabia knows that they can’t rely on oil forever and are pursuing a strategy to diversify their economy away from the oil industry and create different revenue streams – from finance, IT, and tourism amongst other things. In 2017 they announced that they would allocate a region of 26,500 km2 (which is almost the size of Belgium) to build a new economic model for the country. It sits in north eastern part of Saudi Arabia bounded by the Red Sea in the South and the Gulf of Aqaba to the West. There will be four regions, The Line, Oxagon, Trojena and Sindalah.
The Line is planned to be a 170km linear city that will house 9 million people. Oxagon is an octagon shaped port city, Trojena is a ski resort in the Sarwat mountains and Sindalah is an island resort in the Red Sea. The first element scheduled for completion is Sindalah, and Trojena has already been awarded the 2029 Asian Winter Olympics – not without an element of scepticism!
The Line is the interesting one for me! The following is an extract from the Neom website:
There will be no roads, no cars and therefore no emissions. It will run on 100% renewable energy. Water will be recycled and the surrounding area will be re-natured. Crown Price Mohammed bin Salman said in a press release, “The Line will tackle the challenges facing humanity in urban life today and will shine a light on alternative ways to live.”
The city will have opera houses, libraries, stadiums and universities. It will be modular – with communities of 80,000 people (think suburbs, so you could live in one suburb and work in another). Their view is that with such a small footprint, the land will be given back to nature and balance will be created between the people and nature.
Most cities started as settlements that became villages, towns and then cities over hundreds of years. To build a city from scratch gives many opportunities to avoid inefficiency, congestion and urban sprawl. In a world of rapid urbanisation, could this be a good thing? Although it won’t all be built at once (it is expected to be completed by 2045) the masterplan includes how many theatres, police stations, schools and hospitals will be needed. A university will be built in the first module for instance, but the opera house may come in a later module.
There will be a high speed rail network which will link the airport to the Gulf of Aqaba, but there will also be a metro system that allows travel between the modules. And then it gets more freaky – there will be vertical travel systems too – you won’t need to go to the ground floor to catch the transport system. You could catch a horizontal lift that travels along one of the corridors at four different heights.
The Line won’t be built like a traditional city. The modules will be pre-engineered depending on what they will do. There will be simple process of optimised industrial production where things are made in large volumes. The city will be like a giant assembly kit that will be put together as and when the modules are needed. Even the plants will be chosen according to where they sit within the plan – plants will be planted according to where the sun will shine – some will have total sunlight and many will be chosen because they prefer shade or semi-shade. Green spaces and parks will be integrated into the city, and a lot of glass and mirrors will be used to create transparency.
Who will live there? The project is designed to have a strong technology, biomedical and education focus. Perhaps this will be a new Silicon Valley, a new M.I.T? If the city is designed to provide the best of everything in the world, will it lead to an ecosystem of incubation and proliferate ideas and inspiration. The developers hope to create this environment without the humidity of Singapore, the pollution of London, the poor weather of Paris and the high tax rates of Silicon Valley!
Saudi Arabia has a visionary leader and elsewhere in the world you would have political, financial and technological constraints, which are less of an obstacle in Saudi Arabia. This is blue-sky thinking and the project has commenced? It is ambitious to say the least, and it is very difficult to comprehend that such a city could be built in 20 years. But hey, you’ve got to start somewhere!
Below is an interesting documentary of the project. There are so many things to think about, good and bad. It’s just short of 10 minutes to watch and provides an interesting perspective on the project. I don’t think it would be my thing, but let me know what you think!?
Asset Class Returns
The table below represents a rolling year view of the major asset class returns that we track. It offers a view of the asset classes we use to diversify your portfolio.