Saudi Arabia announces new eco-city with ‘zero cars, zero streets and zero carbon emissions’ 

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Saudi Arabia announces new eco-city in the form of a 105-mile long LINE with ‘zero cars, zero streets and zero carbon emissions’

  • Saudi Arabia has announced a brand new 105-mile-long ‘zero carbon emissions’ eco-city
  • The Line will have three layers, with one for ultra-fast transport, one for services and one for pedestrians 
  • In a televised address, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said ‘The Line’ will not have any cars or streets
  • The Line is a city built along a 105-mile straight line with no commute set to take longer than 20 minutes 

By Sam Baker For Mailonline

Published: | Updated:

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Saudi Arabia has announced a new 105-mile-long eco-city free from cars, streets and carbon emissions will be built in which no commute will take longer than 20 minutes.

The $500 billion NEOM project, set to be built from scratch along the kingdom’s Red Sea coast, is billed as a development evocative of a sci-fi blockbuster.

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman unveiled plans for a city, dubbed ‘THE LINE’, in a rare presentation broadcast on state TV.

‘Why should we sacrifice nature for the sake of development?’ he said. ‘We need to transform the concept of a conventional city into that of a futuristic one.’

Concept art: Initial diagrams of the new eco-city, dubbed ‘The Line’ show a three-layered infrastructure, including a transport level controlled by AI, a services level and a pedestrian level

The Line will be home to one million residents and aims to preserve 95 per cent of the nature within the 170Km strip

The Line will be home to one million residents and aims to preserve 95 per cent of the nature within the 170Km strip

It consists of ‘a city of a million residents with a length of 170 kilometres that preserves 95 percent of nature within NEOM, with zero cars, zero streets and zero carbon emissions,’ he said.

‘We need to transform the concept of a conventional city into that of a futuristic one,’ added the de facto leader of the Arab world’s leading economy, regularly ranked among the world’s most polluting countries.

Prince Mohammed showed computer-generated images of ‘THE LINE’ as well as landscapes of pristine deserts and blue seas.

The pedestrian city will have services such as schools, health centres and green spaces, as well as high-speed public transportation, with no journey expected to take more than 20 minutes, according to a NEOM statement.

All urban developments in The Line will be powered by 100 per cent clean energy with the aim to build communities around nature, rather than sacrificing it

All urban developments in The Line will be powered by 100 per cent clean energy with the aim to build communities around nature, rather than sacrificing it

Artificial Intelligence will play a key role in the city, the statement said, adding that 'it will be powered by 100 percent clean energy, providing pollution-free, healthier and more sustainable environments for residents'

Artificial Intelligence will play a key role in the city, the statement said, adding that ‘it will be powered by 100 percent clean energy, providing pollution-free, healthier and more sustainable environments for residents’

Artificial Intelligence will play a key role in the city, the statement said, adding that ‘it will be powered by 100 percent clean energy, providing pollution-free, healthier and more sustainable environments for residents’.

The AI will work continuously to learn predictive ways of making life easier for residents of The Line. 

All urban developments in The Line will be powered by 100 per cent clean energy with the aim to build communities around nature, rather than sacrificing it. 

Construction of the city will begin in the first quarter of this year, with funding from the Public Investment Fund, the main vehicle through which the kingdom is diversifying its economy beyond oil.

The project is slated to create 380,000 jobs and contribute 180 billion riyals ($48 billion) to the kingdom's GDP by 2030

The project is slated to create 380,000 jobs and contribute 180 billion riyals ($48 billion) to the kingdom’s GDP by 2030

Saudi Arabia, who leads the world in oil exports, has announced a new 170Km-long eco-city free from cars, streets and carbon emissions in a bid to diversify their economy. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (pictured) unveiled plans for the city in a rare presentation broadcast on state TV

Saudi Arabia, who leads the world in oil exports, has announced a new 170Km-long eco-city free from cars, streets and carbon emissions in a bid to diversify their economy. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (pictured) unveiled plans for the city in a rare presentation broadcast on state TV

The project’s infrastructure is estimated to cost between $100billion and $200billion and is the result of three years of work. 

The project is slated to create 380,000 jobs and contribute 180 billion riyals ($48 billion) to the kingdom’s GDP by 2030, the NEOM statement said.

NEOM is a 26,500-square-Km high-tech development on the Red Sea with several zones, including an industrial and logistics areas, which is planned to be completed in 2025.