Saudi Arabia Unveils 170km Long Smart One-Building-City, "The LINE"

On July 25th, His Royal Highness Mohammed bin Salman, Crown Prince and Chairman of the NEOM Board of Directors unveiled the designs for The Line. This project represents a significant revolution for civilization as it prioritizes humans and offers an unmatched urban living experience while maintaining the surrounding natural environment.

This groundbreaking concept for urban development was initially introduced in January of last year. The Line's designs exemplify what future urban communities could look like in an environment free from roads, cars, and emissions. The entire city will run on 100% renewable energy and prioritize the health and well-being of its residents over transportation and infrastructure, as is typical of traditional cities. Nature takes precedence over development, and the project will contribute to preserving 95% of NEOM's land.

In the announcement, THE LINE's most significant features were unveiled, revealing that it is a mere 200 meters wide, stretches across 170 kilometres, and stands 500 meters above sea level. THE LINE will eventually accommodate an impressive 9 million people and will be built on a massive 34 square kilometre footprint, making it unparalleled when compared to other cities of similar capacity. This unique design will help reduce the infrastructure footprint, resulting in never-before-seen efficiencies in city functions. With its ideal climate all year round, residents can enjoy the beautiful surrounding nature when travelling by foot. Moreover, all of THE LINE's facilities will be accessible within a five-minute walk, and a high-speed rail will provide end-to-end transit of only 20 minutes.

HRH Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said, “At THE LINE’s launch last year, we committed to a civilizational revolution that puts humans first based on a radical change in urban planning. The designs revealed today for the city's vertically layered communities will challenge the traditional flat, horizontal cities and create a model for nature preservation and enhanced human livability. THE LINE will tackle the challenges facing humanity in urban life today and will shine a light on alternative ways to live.” 

HRH added, “We cannot ignore the livability and environmental crises facing our world’s cities, and NEOM is at the forefront of delivering new and imaginative solutions to address these issues. NEOM is leading a team of the brightest minds in architecture, engineering and construction to make the idea of building upwards a reality.”

HRH continued, “NEOM will be a place for all people from across the globe to make their mark on the world in creative and innovative ways. NEOM remains one of the most important projects of Saudi Vision 2030, and our commitment to delivering THE LINE on behalf of the nation remains resolute.”

A novel urban design approach called Zero Gravity Urbanism, which involves vertically layering city functions to enable seamless movement across three dimensions, is the basis for THE LINE. This concept surpasses tall buildings by incorporating public parks, pedestrian areas, schools, homes, and workplaces, which are all within a five-minute radius of each other.

THE LINE will feature an outer mirror facade that will seamlessly blend in with its surroundings, despite its small footprint. The interior, on the other hand, will provide exceptional experiences and magical moments. A group of renowned architects and engineers led by NEOM will develop this innovative design for the city of the future.

To disrupt conventional practices, THE LINE's design will be completely digitized, and construction will be heavily industrialized by leveraging advanced construction technologies and manufacturing processes.

NEOM's announcement of THE LINE's designs builds on its progress in developing flagship projects such as OXAGON, a reinvented manufacturing and innovation city; TROJENA, a global mountain tourism destination that will offer the Arabian Gulf's first outdoor skiing; as well as the launch of two NEOM subsidiaries: ENOWA, an energy, water, and hydrogen company, and the NEOM Tech & Digital Company.

 

© Images courtesy of NEOM Communication Department

Full press release > NEOM