Work on the ambitious “The Line” construction project in Saudi Arabia has begun. The 170-kilometer project is the subject of controversial debate.
In the middle of the year, the government of Saudi Arabia published spectacular plans for a city: it is a mirrored wall 170 kilometers long and 500 meters high, inside which an entire city is hidden. Despite its impressive length and height, the city is said to be just 200 meters wide. Also promised is a transport system that will take you from one end to the other in 20 minutes.
It should be a “model for nature conservation and better living conditions for people,” Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said of the project. It’s not the only vision of what the cities of the future might look like. The project, dubbed “The Line” and part of the NEOM development project, looks like a futuristic fever dream in previews. And yet: construction work has begun, as drone footage and satellite images of the area in northwest Saudi Arabia show.
Place is heavily criticized
The video shows several excavators digging a long, straight hole. It is unknown if this is the foundation of the city or an underground transportation system. The project is controversial: experts consider the claim that the building is sustainable and that it will subsequently be climate-neutral to be unrealistic.
While the images of the area on Google Maps still do not show works, SOAR, another service, already shows works: excavators (the red dots) are removing earth and rock (purple) from the depression (yellow). The buildings on the right are a settlement for employees.SOAR
The chosen site was also heavily criticized: people already lived in this area, the local Bedouin tribes now have to make way for the construction site. The human rights organization ALQST reported that three residents who were removed from the construction site were sentenced to death. Until now, little is known about the conditions of construction workers.
Navigation count 20 minutes, rfi time 12.17.2022, 19:20| Act: 12.17.2022, 19:20