What is Saudi Arabia's Neom project? All about the futuristic $1 trillion+ city

Saudi Arabia is all set to build NEOM, one of the world's largest and most complex structures, in its northwestern region. According to a report in The Wall Street Journal, the layout plan has revealed that the furistic $500 billion zero-carbon city intends to focus on “zero cars, zero pollution and zero carbon emissions."

The structure is Saudi Arabia's sovereign-wealth fund project that is a part of Saudi Vision 2030, a plan that has been formulated to effectively reduce Saudi Arabia's dependence on oil while diversifying its economy.

Amid climate change talks, the city will also be "built with perfect temperature regulation in place." According to the Instagram account of the project, one can expect "ideal weather 24/7, 365 days a year."

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Here's everything we know about NEOM

According to Mint, the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman, has stated that the NEOM Investment Fund could expand to 400 billion riyals, which is approximately 1.6 trillion USD. Speaking to reporters, he elaborated on the project, which will reportedly go on till 2030. According to Bloomberg, the Crown Prince said:

"We have big aims to get Saudi Arabia among the top three largest stock markets on the planet."

The prince also noted that, the city shall be prepared as a testbed for new technologies that could be beneficial for modern and urban living. He also added that, a desert the size of Belgium will reportedly be turned into a technologically advanced area.

According to the prince, the project is also being built to increase Saudi Arabia's population from 34 million currently to 60 million by the end of 2030. The population will comprise foreigners in large numbers. He noted that the city is expected to take care of 10 million people and release some burden off Saudi Arabia's capital Riyadh.

The prince also expects that 9 million people will stay in the twin buildings built in the city by the end of 2045.

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Exploring NEOM's main structure 'The Mirror Line' in details

The epicenter of the zero-carbon smart city shall be NEOM's highly-ambitious structure, 'Mirror Line.' It consists of two glass reflective buildings that will reportedly measure up to 488 meters (1,600 feet) high, and run parallel for 120 kilometers (75 miles). The structure will run across coastal areas, mountainous regions, and rocky, desert terrain.

While speaking about the project, especially the Mirror Line, the Crown Prince has noted that it will be a "civilizational revolution that puts humans first, providing an unprecedented urban living experience.” In an Instagram post from the official account of the city, the Crown Prince also added:

"The Line will tackle the challenges facing humanity in urban life today, shine a light on alternative ways to live and create a model for nature preservation."

The two glass reflective buildings will be connected through several walkaways, and a high-speed train is supposed to run underneath the walkaways. The people who live in NEOM shall be able to travel from one end of the structure to another in no more than 20 minutes.

According to AlJazeera, the documents from 2021 included many other exciting aspects inside the city including a marina for yachts, a sports stadium, and provisions for integrated vertical farming.

The initial design of The Mirror Line has been formulated by US-based Morphosis Architects, which is founded by Pritzker Architecture Prize winner Thom Mayne. This project also involves nine other designers and engineers.