Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of iHeart Radio, Hey brain Stuff. Lauren Bolga bam here. The Saudi Arabia is home to some of the world's most interesting and ambitious architecture, but the country's newest urban project may just top them all. The Government of Saudi Arabia unveiled plans in one for the city of Neom, including a megastructure called The Line. The Line is designed to be an entire city composed of two parallel skyscrapers stretching across the northwest part of
Saudi Arabia near the Red Sea. Each building is planned to be a hundred and seventy kilometers long, just over a hundred miles and five hundred meters high. That's about six feet taller than most of the world's tallest skyscrapers. But both buildings together, along with an outdoor space in between them, will be just two hundred meters wide. That's about six hundred and fifty feet. If you think this sounds like the setting for some kind of futuristic dystopian novel,
you're not wrong. The Line is being described as a vertical city outfitted with exterior mirrors big enough to house nine million people, along with everything they need, from parks and waterfalls to high speed rail and robot maids. There are even plans to include an artificial moon for residents
to gaze upon. With its proposed width of only six hundred and fifty feet, the line plans to rely primarily on its height to encompass its residents in vertically layered homes, offices, public parks, and public schools laid out in neighborhoods so that all amenities are within a five minute walk for all residents. It's also proposing a host of modern trappings, including year round climate control of all indoor and outdoor spaces, and accessibility to parks and natural elements within a two
minute walk. A plus that high speed rail is being planned to put everything in the one hundred mile long city within a twenty minute ride, and Saudi Arabian officials claim the line will otherwise be devoid of roads, cars, or emissions, and will be powered strictly by clean energy, although details for that haven't been released yet. When complete, the line will span thirteen square miles or thirty four square kilometers across the desert to become a literal oasis.
Architectural renderings show the two buildings operating as one, incorporating a verdant space in the middle filled with water features and plants. Although a timeline was not part of the line's announcement, initial earthwork began in October one, and it's expected that residents will begin moving in by the year.
This deadline was shared as part of a larger countrywide improvement plan dubbed Vision twenty that's intended to draw a hundred million annual visitors and keep Saudi Arabia in the renting against travel hotspots like its Gulf neighbors Dubai and Abu Dhabi. The line is just one part of the one trillion dollar Neon Project, an initiative announced in and
focused on the northwest part of Saudi Arabia. Along with the line, there are plans to build a network of airports as well as the world's largest green energy plant. The area is intended to become so self sufficient that it's being referred to as a country within a country where residents might be called Namians rather than Saudia's. In a press release from July, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is quoted as saying Neon will be a place for all people from across the globe to make their
mark on the world in creative and innovative ways. The Line is a futuristic and ambitious project. Critics of Saudi Arabia's vision initiatives say that the attempt to transition from a crude oil economy to one powered by tourism over books the country's most available resources, namely its competitive advantages in higher education and research. There are also concerns about the structures interrupting natural habitats and weather patterns. We'll have
to see how the project actually develops. Today's episode is based on the article Meet the Line, Saudi Arabia's future hundred and six mile one building city on housetof Works dot com, written by laure L Dove. Brain Stuff is production of by Heart Radio in partnership with how stuff works dot Com and is produced by Tyler Klang. Before more podcasts my Heart Radio, visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.