“The Line”, Saudi Arabia
Dick-waving by the trillion dollar man…!
“Neom is arguably the most dramatic project in the world of architecture and construction right now. It includes The Line, a planned structure to house 9 million people, that will run dead straight for 170 kilometres (105 miles), projecting at one end into the Red Sea, but will be only 200 metres wide. It will be flanked on either side by 500-metre high walls of building, mirrored on the outside. Imagine a tower taller than the Empire State Building extruded from Birmingham to Leeds, and then doubled, and you have an idea of the scale. There have been some doubts whether The Line would truly happen but last week drone footage showed that a start has been made on digging its foundations.”
“The Line” has to be the biggest and most costly and probably the most uselessly wasteful building project in all of history. “Wasteful” because its a wasted opportunity to spend multi-billions on an eco-city which is not also a replicable template – one which could be useful to humanity as a whole and not just one man’s mega-sized ego.
Needless to say, the Neom project has the political and financial backing of the “Trillion Dollar Man” – Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS). So, unlike other gargantuan city ideas (think of Paolo Soleri’s still-born “ARCOLOGIES”) – this one has unlimited money behind it and, according to the Guardian article above, it has even “broken ground”. But, one has to ask, why the secrecy implied by only drones being able to see what is going on? This is a huge story that could show Saudi Arabia in a new and better light, so shouldn’t the worlds press be invited there to record its steady progress?
Scanning through the Wiki article the detail which most caught my attention is that its projected pop’n density of 260,000/km2 is almost 10x what I propose for OA-Cities which, in itself, is almost 10x typical new-build housing estates in the UK. (inner-city flat developments are higher density, but rarely more than 10,000, and typically less.) So, one wonders what size the apartments will be? And will they – as in OA-Cities – have windows and patios and a nice view of gardens and woodland, or at least a spectacular atrium? Given that this is Saudi Arabia, a lifeless desert where daytime temperatures nudge 50degC, all very unlikely.
The line will consist of connected communities called modules. The total structure will consist of 135 modules of each 800 metres in length and 500 metres tall.
All the preliminary work (excavations) seem to be at the “Marina” end (Gulf of Aqaba) and, if you want my prediction, that is where the project will start and end..! Putin and his crony’s yachts are sure to be welcome there.
The project management had all architects sign confidentiality agreements, and there are no references to “The Line” on any of their websites, which seems very strange. Two well known architects – Norman Foster and Francine Houben – terminated their participation in the project due to “human rights and ecological concerns”, which could also be euphemisms for “this project will never be completed”.
TO BE CONTINUED ONCE I HAVE GLEANED MORE INFORMATION..! (Don’t hold your breath..!)
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