The Line in Saudi Arabia

By Sofia Vojvodic

In the city of Neom, Saudi Arabia has announced “The Line”, a restructuring of society said to be set into motion by the year 2030. The 16,405 ft tall city will serve to enforce environmental preservation, harbor efficient transportation, and offer quick accessibility to amenities.

The futuristic design of the city is centered around everything being vertically stacked, as opposed to horizontally spread out in the open. A home to all of us - welcome to the Line," the official advertisement/informational video on The Line states. A life where everything is built on top of each other may seem insane and unrealistic, but the government of Saudi Arabia claims that it can be done in only 8 years.

The designs for The Line include no roads or cars to emit harmful emissions, a gigantic mirror layering the exterior, and an artificial moon to please residents by mirroring realistic circumstances. Leaders in Saudi Arabia acknowledge the controversial talk about the city designs, but assure the public that these peculiar seeming layouts have countless amounts of benefits.“The designs revealed today for the city’s vertically layered communities will challenge the traditional flat, horizontal cities and create a model for nature preservation and enhanced human livability,” Crown Prince Bin Salman said.

Despite the efforts of assuring the public, citizens of Neom have many worries about The Line, and what it will mean for their society. In a country that still struggles with violence and equality towards women and eviction of tribal members that have lived there for centuries, packing everything in close proximity could cause discourse to rise among residents of Saudi Arabia. Citizens claim that in order to build something new, the various problems within the community must be solved first. People who voice their displeasure with the ruling of Saudi Arabia face danger of being restricted to an area, as people such as Jamal Khashoggi, a journalist who wrote opinion pieces in the Washington Post and frequently spoke against the Prince and government of Saudi Arabia, have been mysteriously killed.

No matter the verdict of whether the infrastructure plans for Neom are utopian or dystopian, it poses a model for cities across the world. If any were to follow in the footsteps of Neom, monumental changes would take place throughout the globe.