“A Revolution in Civilization”

Saudi Arabia is embarking on one of the most ambitious and futuristic cities of our time at dangerous – and immeasurable – costs.

On October 24, 2017, Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia Muhammad Bin Salman announced the building of The Line, a $500 billion, 100% eco-friendly, linear metropolis located in Neom, Saudi Arabia.

“The Line will have no roads, cars or emissions,” according to Neom’s official website, Neom.com. It will run on 100% renewable energy and 95% of land will be preserved for nature. Unlike traditional cities, people’s health and wellbeing will be prioritized over transportation and infrastructure.

“We are building the Line from the ground up, prioritizing environmental sustainability over anything else,” says Giles Pendleton, Executive Director and Proponent of The Line. “What makes this project so special is the fact that The Line is a city designed to accommodate both humans and the preservation of nature, whereas conventional cities are dysfunctional and major contributors to carbon emissions.”

The Line will consist of two glass reflective walls measuring up to 1,660 ft height, running parallel for 75 miles across coastal, mountain and desert terrain built on a footprint of just 13.1275 square miles. Everything will be accessible within a five minute walk, and AI technology will make it possible for residents to travel end to end in twenty minutes.

“We [architects and engineers working on The Line] plan to have one million people living in Neom by 2030, and about nine million people by 2045. Many people are shocked by how little time we have to develop a civilization, but we aren’t actually building The Line. Instead, we’re assembling it from a series of modular pieces, which are pre-engineered and predetermined as to what their function is,” Pendleton explained.

“When I first learned about The Line, I was in absolute awe,” says Greg Stepien, Civil Engineer in London and Founder of Youtube Channel ‘SITENG,’ where Stepien posts commentary videos on some of the world’s most extravagant civil engineering projects. “I think that it’s great knowing that a city like The Line is addressing how typical cities don’t prioritize a healthy balance between people and natural land, but it does seem like [The Line] is some kind of metaverse — something way beyond our time.”

“There are a number of reasons as to why this project is questionable,” Stepien added. “It’s too ambitious, the amount of money it will cost, the decades-long construction process. Saudi Arabia is notorious for abandoning their grand projects, such as Jeddah tower, which was supposed to be a 1,000-meter-tall building but has been on hold since January of 2018.”

According to NPR, this costly project – which aims to diversify Saudi Arabia’s economy and alleviate the country’s impact on climate change – is funded by the government’s private investment fund. In terms of foreign investment, on July 25 of this year, while talking to reporters, Bin Salman revealed that investments for Neom’s first phase could reach 1.5 trillion Saudi Riyals (approximately 400 trillion dollars) by 2030. He also acknowledged that NEOM’s capital will stem from sovereign wealth funds, initial public offerings, and international private investors, mentioning that this will be the main challenge to overcome in the next two years.

However, one of the most concerning aspects of this project are the human rights violations Saudi officials have committed against Saudi Arabia’s al-Huwaitat tribe, who have inhabited parts of Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and the Sinai Peninsula for generations — their lineage tracing back much before the founding of the Saudi state.

At the inception of the project, the Saudi government promised the al-Huwaitat Tribe that they would be involved in Neom’s development and that their native land would become one of the most famous in the world.

However, in January 2020, the Crown Prince allegedly sent an assistant to al-Huwaitat areas to try to have the tribe accept compensation – a mere sum of 3,000 Saudi Riyals per family – and leave their lands or face eviction. The tribe refused the sum, and since then, members have been subjected to alleged arrests, harassment, and abductions by Saudi forces for not relocating to facilitate the building of this mega-city project.

“The project sits on the traditional grazing land of the Huwaitat Bedoin, who are being dispossessed, removed and even killed by Saudi Authorities in order to clear the land for Neom,” says Dawn Chatty, Professor of Anthropology and Forced Migration at Oxford University. “Many are objecting and being thrown into jail.”

According to Human Rights Watch, activists say that Al-Howeitat tribesman Abdul Rahim Al-Hwaiti was killed by Saudi Security Forces after refusing to give up his property for the building of The Line. In a video posted by Al-Hwaiti on social media, the tribe member described the Saudi government’s actions as “forced displacement.”

At least 20,000 members of the tribe will be evicted from their land, with no information about where they will relocate.

In response to whether Neom had the potential to change the world, Stepien concludes that The Line is “almost too good to be true. I feel like Saudi Arabia is trying to achieve the impossible.”

Whereas Pendleton argues that “[t]his project is more than just a futuristic civilization. In addition to people living with accessible advanced technology, we want residents of Neom to live equitably. Everyone will have access to the same amenities, irrespective of how much a person earns….We are trying to create a new standard for what the best quality of life is.”

“This is such a massively expensive project that I doubt there will be a copycat,” Chatty said. “ In fact, The Line is probably being built to impress the world with its futuristic planning.”