Why Saudi Arabia’s $2 Trillion Line City Is Failing

Bright Side

Saudi Arabia’s $2 trillion "Line City" project sounds like something out of a sci-fi movie—a 170-km-long city designed to fit millions of people in a super high-tech, linear structure. But it’s running into some major issues. First, the cost is mind-blowing, and many experts think it’s just not realistic to pull off. On top of that, building such a massive structure in the middle of the desert has crazy engineering and environmental challenges. Plus, people are questioning whether anyone would actually want to live there, given the limitations of such a compact, narrow space. It’s a bold idea, but it might just be too ambitious to work in the real world.  Credit: ZAADC / YouTube NEOM / YouTube Global AI Summit / YouTube Dezeen / YouTube Discovery UK / YouTube Al Arabiya English / YouTube Animation is created by Bright Side.  ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Music from TheSoul Sound: https://thesoul-sound.com/   Check our Bright Side podcast on Spotify and leave a positive review! https://open.spotify.com/show/0hUkPxD34jRLrMrJux4VxV   Subscribe to Bright Side: https://goo.gl/rQTJZz ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Our Social Media: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/brightside Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brightside.official TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@brightside.official?lang=en Telegram: https://t.me/bright_side_official   Stock materials (photos, footages and other): https://www.depositphotos.com https://www.shutterstock.com https://www.eastnews.ru ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  For more videos and articles visit: http://www.brightside.me  ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This video is made for entertainment purposes. We do not make any warranties about the completeness, safety and reliability. Any action you take upon the information in this video is strictly at your own risk, and we will not be liable for any damages or losses. It is the viewer's responsibility to use judgement, care and precaution if you plan to replicate.

Transcript

00:00You're standing in the middle of a vast, empty desert in Saudi Arabia.

00:05But in the middle of that emptiness, two enormous mirrored skyscrapers rise side by side,

00:12in perfect parallel to each other.

00:14This isn't just some sci-fi concept.

00:17It's The Line, the centerpiece of Saudi Arabia's boldest urban project yet.

00:23Now, Saudi Arabia is already home to some of the most ambitious architecture in the world,

00:31from Riyadh's King Abdullah Financial District to the iconic Abraj Al Bayt Towers in Mecca.

00:38They've been working hard for years.

00:40But The Line is in a league of its own.

00:43This project was announced in 2021, and it is part of a larger vision for the country's future,

00:49called NEOM, a $500 billion megaproject designed to redefine how people live, work, and interact with the environment.

00:59I mean, what could go wrong, right?

01:01Well, I don't know.

01:03But Nadmi Al Nasser, the longtime chief executive of the ambitious project, has recently departed.

01:09Suspicious.

01:11Even more so because NEOM's statement issued soon after did not give any plausible reason for his departure.

01:18Then, The Line project itself was originally expected to cost around $200 billion.

01:24But by 2024, that number had skyrocketed to a mind-blowing $2 trillion.

01:31That's about twice Saudi Arabia's entire GDP.

01:35And if you ask independent experts, they think it could end up costing even more.

01:41At first, the plan was to build about 10 miles of the project and have 1.5 million people living there by 2030.

01:49By now, the expectations are way more modest.

01:53Only just under 1.5 miles are likely to be done by 2030, with fewer than 300,000 residents.

02:01The project has come across a lot of problems along the way.

02:05Engineering issues and management problems have caused major delays, and progress hasn't been as fast as hoped.

02:12And now, let's figure out what exactly is The Line.

02:16It's a literal city made up of two parallel skyscrapers, each towering 1,640 feet high.

02:23That's higher than almost all the tallest skyscrapers in the world.

02:27These skyscrapers are 656 feet wide and stretch for a mind-boggling 106 miles across the northwest of Saudi Arabia, right near the Red Sea.

02:40The most astounding thing? The entire city is actually within this one structure.

02:46There are no cars, no roads, no emissions.

02:50But we'll go into detail a bit later.

02:52The complex is supposed to house 9 million people, and all of this running entirely on clean energy.

02:59Such a project aligns perfectly with Saudi Arabia's ambitious Vision 2030 plan.

03:05The outside of the skyscrapers will be covered in mirrors that will reflect the surrounding desert landscape,

03:11creating an almost seamless blend between the city and its surroundings.

03:16Inside, there will be lush parks, cascading waterfalls, flying taxis, and even robot helpers to take care of everyday tasks.

03:25They're also planning to make an artificial moon as part of the city's design.

03:30One more thing that makes The Line so unique is its design.

03:34Unlike traditional cities that spread out horizontally, The Line is vertical.

03:39Everything – homes, offices, parks, schools, shopping centers – are stacked on top of each other in layers.

03:46This means that residents won't need to travel long distances to get what they need.

03:51In fact, the designers promise that all amenities will be within a 5-minute walk from anywhere in the city.

03:58And while it's compact in width, the city's vertically layered structure means it can comfortably fit all 9 million residents,

04:05while leaving plenty of room for parks, natural spaces, and modern conveniences.

04:10There's even a plan for year-round climate control, keeping both indoor and outdoor spaces at comfortable temperatures,

04:18no matter how harsh the desert weather gets.

04:21Of course, even with everything close by, people will still need to get around the city.

04:26Worry not. The Line has it covered in the most futuristic way possible.

04:31It features a high-speed train system that will travel from one end of the city to the other in just 20 minutes.

04:37That's 106 miles in 20 minutes, with only 4 stops along the way.

04:43Imagine being able to get anywhere in the city faster than you could drive across town in most places today.

04:50Besides the train, The Line will also have autonomous vehicles.

04:54Those will be cars and shuttles driving themselves with the help of advanced technology.

04:59They will handle everything from parking to going around obstacles.

05:03Even cooler, in The Line, every car, train, and any other piece of infrastructure will be connected in a huge network called the Internet of Things.

05:13Sensors and real-time data will allow traffic to flow smoothly, preventing delays and reducing congestion.

05:21They first spoke about the NEOM project in 2017.

05:25Besides The Line, NEOM is supposed to include an octagon-shaped floating industrial city and a posh mountain ski resort.

05:33There, Saudi Arabia will host the Asian Winter Games in 2029.

05:38Plus, there will be the world's largest green energy plant, which will make the region self-sufficient and sustainable.

05:45The goal of NEOM is to attract people from around the world, not just to visit, but to live there.

05:53Residents will even be given their own identity – NEOMians.

05:59Not everyone thinks this construction is a good idea.

06:02Some urban planners and architects have pointed out pretty big flaws in the city's straight-line layout.

06:08You see, in a regular city like Johannesburg, which covers way more ground than The Line, two random people are usually only about 20 miles apart.

06:19But in The Line, the average distance between two random people would be 35 miles.

06:24That's almost double, even though The Line's overall area is way smaller.

06:29This setup could make it harder for people to connect socially and might be a pain to navigate, even with a high-speed train zipping through it.

06:38Now, they promise that every resident will have everything they need within a five-minute walk.

06:43But there are doubts, too.

06:45People wonder if living in a super-compact, stacked-up design might end up feeling claustrophobic or even too much to handle.

06:53As for the whole mirrored exterior idea, it looks pretty cool in renderings.

06:58But there's an opinion it could actually mess with the environment.

07:02Reflecting all that sunlight in a desert might disturb local wildlife or create unexpected heat issues.

07:09The Line's high-tech features sound amazing, but they come with their own set of headaches.

07:14The city is supposed to run on the Internet of Things tech and autonomous vehicles.

07:19Sounds awesome, right?

07:21But how are they going to pull that off for a 106-mile-long city?

07:25For things to run smoothly, every piece of tech – cars, trains, infrastructure – needs to be perfectly in sync, sharing tons of real-time data.

07:34If there's even a tiny glitch, it could throw a wrench into daily life for millions of people.

07:40Then there's that high-speed train.

07:43It does sound like a dream, but actually building and keeping it running in the middle of a desert is not so easy.

07:50The heat, shifting sands, and wear and tear on the tracks could cause big delays and rack up costs pretty quickly.

07:58People around the world are questioning if the Line is even doable.

08:02The first inhabitants were supposed to start living there by 2030.

08:06But there are reports about scaling the project back, so that deadline feels like a big stretch.

08:12There's also a sustainability issue.

08:15The Line is supposed to have zero emissions and 100% clean energy.

08:20But building something so massive is bound to take tons of resources.

08:25With all these challenges, Saudi Arabia is looking into new ways to fund the Line and figure out which parts of their Vision 2030 projects to prioritize.

08:36An insider has recently said that some projects might go ahead as planned, while others could be delayed or scaled down.

08:43This lines up with what Ali Shahabi, who's on NEOM's advisory board, has said.

08:49He admitted that the Vision 2030 goals were always meant to be super ambitious.

08:54Like, almost too ambitious.

08:56But he argued that even if they only pull off part of it in time, it'll still be a big deal.

09:03That's it for today.

09:04So, hey, if you pacified your curiosity, then give the video a like and share it with your friends.

09:09Or if you want more, just click on these videos and stay on the Bright Side!

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