As we all know Saudi Arabia is famous for its medieval barbarism and oil, but the kingdom is rebranding as a futuristic ecotopia.
The latest showcase of this unlikely vision is ‘The Line’, a mirrored city that’s 500m tall, 200m wide, and 170km long.
The metropolis will purportedly have a population of 1.5 million people by 2045 and the project is projected to cost up to $1 trillion. The project’s website claims that once it is completed, the city will be home to some 9 million residents on a total footprint of just 34 square kilometers.
The facilities will be vertically-layered across the 34 square km city. Spaces for work, leisure, and home will be accessible in three dimensions: up, down, and across.
Here’s what a promotional video for the project says:
“For too long, humanity has existed within dysfunctional and polluted cities that ignore nature. Now, a revolution in civilization is taking place. Imagine a traditional city, and consolidating its footprint, designing to protect and enhance nature.”
The Line is part of the broader Neom development in northwest Saudi Arabia.
While MBS has promised a “civilizational revolution that puts humans first,” the project will displace thousands of people already living on the site.
One tribesman from the community made videos protesting the evictions. He was later shot dead by Saudi security forces.
Watch it here: GreenBirds/Youtube
According to Bloomberg, earthwork on the city began in October 2021, and the first residents are projected to move in by 2024.
However, this plan caused Twitter users to draw comparisons to dystopian horror on Wednesday after Saudi Arabia shared an advertisement for a titanic megacity project it has proposed.
“I never seen something more dystopian,” user @adara_salim tweeted.
“Saudi Arabia figured out a way to cram all the city-dwelling libs into a giant wall that they never have to leave and convinced them it’s really cool and progressive,” The Daily Wire’s Michael Knowles added. “If we can build it on the southern border, Mohammad bin Salman deserves a Nobel Prize.”
“This remake of Blade Runner is a little disturbing,” CBS News anchor John Dickerson wrote.
“How is this not a dystopian video game trailer?” games journalist Ryan Brown tweeted.
“So…..Snowpiercer….But it doesn’t move…But guaranteed to have the same class stratification,” journalism professor and MSNBC contributor Jason Johnson added.
“I’d rather be dead than live in something like this,” The Daily Wire’s Matt Walsh wrote.
“Is this something out of a dystopian film? Because this feels like a video you’d see in a dystopian film,” @strangeland_elf commented.
“What in the Phillip K. Dick?” user @anthony_hyphen tweeted.
