Saudi Arabia is planning to make the world’s largest buildings as part of its $500 billion development plan called NEOM.
At 10.8 million barrels a day, Saudi Arabia contributes 11 percent of the global oil production and is the largest exporter of crude oil. However, with the world’s shift from oil, the country wants to diversify its income sources and has been looking at building destinations where it can attract industries and businesses in the future.
In November last year, the country announced the world’s largest industrial site at sea. This eight-sided floating city is being designed to include technological advances such as the internet of things (IoT), artificial intelligence (A.I.), robotics, human-machine fusion, and most importantly, be powered by clean energy. Called Oxagon, the floating industrial site is part of Saudi Arabia’s larger plan NEOM, which aims to revolutionize work and living.
Part of the NEOM Project is another clean energy destination called The Line, a city that spans a straight line. Estimated to cost about $200 billion to construct, the Line is expected to be a belt of hyperconnected communities extending over a line that’s 105 miles (170 km) long.
The city will have no roads and will depend on an ultra-high-speed transit system that will be underground. It will take less than 20 minutes to go through the entire city.
Taking the concept up a notch, the project will now feature twin skyscrapers that will extend for miles. Each skyscraper will be about 1,640 feet (500 m) tall.
The buildings will have to be built at different heights considering the variations in the terrain across the city’s expanse, the CEO of the NEOM Project, Nadhmi Al-Nasr, told Bloomberg in an interview.
People are excited to see what will follow as this is not the only exciting and unique project the country has been working on!