Riyadh | In recent years, Saudi Arabia has made global headlines with its ambitious giga projects. As part of Vision 2030, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has launched a series of breathtaking initiatives, the largest of which is Neom The Line — a 170-kilometer-long linear smart city stretching from the Red Sea through the desert. invidis went to visit the Kingdom for a behind the scenes tour.
There isn’t much to see of Neom The Line yet, but earthworks have begun, and an airport has been constructed. Thousands of engineers have already settled into their temporary homes in northwest Saudi Arabia. This project plays a prominent part in Saudi’s mission of transforming the kingdom’s image and is to become the first tourist platform on the Saudi Red Sea.
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International engineers and experts involved in Neom can be found on nearly every flight to the Kingdom, and our flights to Riyadh were no exception. No other project in Saudi Arabia has such visibility as the USD 500 billion investment Neom The Line. While some experts question the viability of a 170-kilometer-long city, and Neom has recently adjusted its scope and timeline, The Line remains a truly unique and fascinating project, capturing attention beyond just digital signage experts.
Neom in Riyadh
To explore the project, you could either fly directly to Neom in the middle of nowhere or visit The Line Exhibition in the north of Riyadh. For more than a year, Neom presented a special exhibition in the Diriyah Biennale Foundation for Contemporary Art in the Saudi capital. The three exhibition halls were an absolute highlight and were worth the trip to Saudi Arabia on their own..
The special exhibition provided fascinating insights into the urban planning, architectural, and technical concepts behind The Line.. The extravagant showcases were complimented by elaborate digital signage installations (LED, projection, mirrors), along with numerous scale models.
In contrast to conventional cities, The Line will be powered exclusively by renewable energy. With an area of just 34 square kilometers, the space required is 95 percent less than in traditional western cities. The individual architectural modules along the 170-kilometer-long line — developed by the world’s most famous architects — will be connected underground and will be home to nine million residents. Due to the small width (200 meters) and height (500 meters), offices, schools, parks and residential facilities in the mirrored building will be no more than a five-minute walk away.
