New £370bn construction project to build megacity | World

A whopping £370 billion will be invested in the world’s largest construction project, which will transform a vast desert area in Saudi Arabia into a futuristic landscape.

The project, known as NEOM, covers more than 10,000 square miles and work is underway to fill it with wonders such as a city stretching 105 miles as the crow flies, billions of trees and levitating trains. The total cost of the entire project is expected to exceed £1.18 trillion.

In what could be the most ambitious construction project ever undertaken, NEOM aims to transform a country-sized area into an almost entirely new nation, governed by an autonomous legal system “developed by investors”. Ali Shihabi, a former banker who now sits on NEOM’s advisory board, told the BBC that the futuristic city, called The Line, would be the jewel in the project’s crown.

He said: “People say it’s some crazy project that will cost billions, but it will be built module by module in a way that will meet demand.”

He added that The Line would accommodate everyone “from workers to billionaires” and emphasized that the project is not just a “rich man’s toy.” Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, one of Saudi Arabia’s richest and most influential men, said NEOM and The Line marked the beginning of a “journey to a greener future” for his oil-rich nation.

According to industry website Designboom, The Line will be 1,640 feet high and 2,132 feet wide, the equivalent of more than two Eiffel Towers stacked one behind the other.

The ambitious goal is to provide housing for over nine million inhabitants in an urban miracle where they will draw their energy exclusively from renewable sources.

NEOM’s director of urban planning, Tarek Qaddumi, revealed on its website that NEOM will have a population similar to that of London, but will occupy a much smaller area.

Qaddumi explained: “This new approach reduces the physical footprint of The Line to two percent of the area of a conventional city with a similar population.”

He also noted: “London currently covers an area of about 1,600 square kilometres, while The Line is 34 square kilometres, and the population is about 9 million.”

Furthermore, Mr Qaddumi emphasised that The Line’s reflective surface is not just a matter of aesthetics, saying that “it will naturally allow sunlight to pass through the sides of the city in addition to the light coming directly from above”.