The Line: Saudi Arabia’s Epicenter of the First Cognitive City in the World

By Sarah Aljamal

No country is immune to the effects of climate change today. According to the World Bank, climate change will drive 216 million people to migrate within their own countries by 2050 (The World Bank). Greenhouse gases are one of the biggest contributors to climate change; energy accounts for two-thirds of total greenhouse gas emissions (Bloomberg). As a result, countries have set targets to shift energy production to renewable energy sources. While many countries have set ambitious targets of forty and fifty per cent, Saudi Arabia has pledged to build a 100 per cent renewable energy ecosystem. This ecosystem will be part of The Line, which is the epicenter of Neom, the first cognitive city in the world worth $500 billion in investment

The Line is a linear megastructure with mirrored cladding. It will be a vertical city, with no roads or cars and thus, no carbon emissions, as shown in Figure 1. The city will run on 100 per cent renewable energy, and 95 per cent of the land will be preserved for nature. Thus, it will be able to tackle the challenges that are facing humanity in urban life today, as we can no longer ignore the environmental crisis our world is facing (Neom). With vertical urbanism, it is expected to provide its residents with an unprecedented urban living experience while simultaneously preserving the natural environment (Neom) It will be able to prioritize the health and wellbeing of the people over transportation and infrastructure, unlike traditional cities.

The line will only be 200 metres wide, 170 kilometres long, and 500 meters above sea level, as shown in Figure 2. It will be built on a footprint of just 34 square kilometres. It will stretch from the Red Sea to the city of Tabuk, and it will be able to accommodate nine million residents, resulting in an average population density of 260,000 people per square kilometer. By comparison, the world’s most populated city, Manila, had a population density of 42,857 people per square kilometers in 2020(World Population Review). Thus, there will be a reduced infrastructure footprint, which can create efficiencies that have never been seen before in traditional city functions that are horizontal rather than vertical (Neom). Within a five-minute walk, residents will have access to all the facilities they need, and with the efficient public transport network, they can enjoy an end-to-end journey in just 20 minutes The line will be in harmony with nature, which will be 95 per cent untouched, and the vertical garden cities mean that residents are only two minutes away from nature, as shown in Figure 3. Peter Terium, the head of the energy sector of Neom, says: ‘Building a 100% renewable energy system at scale has never been done before. We want to do that in the next ten years (Bloomberg). Neom will be a global innovation and research hub. Its epicenter, The Line, will act as a living laboratory where innovative businesses and entrepreneurs will gather to create ground-breaking discoveries through research. It is expected to attract the region's best entrepreneurial human talent and investment.

Additionally, it is expected to create 380,000 jobs and contribute 48 billion pounds to GDP by 2030. (Bloomberg). That said, criticisms have not failed to reach the vertical city. Its sustainability and livability claims are considered to be naïve by some experts. For example, Marshall Brown, the associate professor of architecture at Princeton University, said, ' ‘there would be so many physical and environmental phenomenal that would have to be dealt with to achieve the incredible minimal and singular character that the renderings propose’ ( Barker, 2022) The line may also not be feasible as a city because it requires much control, which is very difficult to retain In addition, Oldfield predicts that it will have a carbon footprint of 1 8 gigatons, which comes from concrete, glass, and steel, because it’s impossible to build a 500-metretall building without using these high-carbon materials ( Barker, 2022).

Moreover, while Saudi Arabia participated in the COP26 climate change negotiations and launched the Saudi green initiative, which aims to achieve net zero emissions by 2060, it promised to increase oil production just one week before attending the COP26 climate conference. As of 2019, only 0.1 percent of electricity was generated from renewable energy. (Venema and Thomas , 2022). This rightfully raises doubts about whether Saudi Arabia will live up to its promises in creating this smart city.

References:

Furthermore, the Line is being built in north-western Saudi Arabia, in the Tabuk province, where the Huwaitat tribe has lived for centuries. When construction started, the tribe was forcefully evicted (Alcido, and Chowdhury, 2023). While the aim is to achieve sustainability and enhance economic growth and development, there should be detailed considerations of wider social implications To be successful, the Line should be concerned with the social processes in society just as much as economic activity

In conclusion, while there are doubts about The Line in terms of its sustainability, design, and socio-economic implications, building a smart city with 100 per cent renewable energy seems inevitable with the current increases in global temperatures, especially that, under this business-as-usual scenario, by 2030, the world might suffer from $2 billion losses a day from weather events, which will severely impact biodiversity, and more importantly, human health, livelihood, water, and food ( Bloomberg).

Climate change. The World Bank. Available at:https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/climatechange/overview (Accessed: March 16, 2023) Learn how Saudi Arabia's future city project will be built around people (no date) Bloomberg com Bloomberg Available at: https://sponsored bloomberg com/immersive/neom/learn-how-saudi-arabia-s-future-city-project-will-be-built-around-people (Accessed: March 12, 2023)

Manila Population 2023 (no date) Worldpopulationreview com Available at: https://worldpopulationreview com/world-cities/manila-population (Accessed: April 10, 2023)

Nat Barker Sustainability and liveability claims of Saudi 170km city are "naive" say experts, Dezeen Available at: https://www dezeen com/2022/08/08/sustainabilityliveability-the-line-saudi-170km-citynaive/#:~:text=%22I%20don't%20want%20to%20live%20in%20a%20place%20where,living%20in%20very%20large%20structures 8 August 2022 (Accessed: March 10, 2023)

The line: A revolution in urban living (no date) THE LINE: a revolution in urban living Available at: https://www neom com/en-us/regions/theline (Accessed: March 18, 2023)

The line connecting zero-carbon communities in Saudi Arabia (no date) Bloomberg com Bloomberg Available at: https://sponsored bloomberg com/immersive/neom/the-line-connecting-zero-carbon-communities-in-saudi-arabia(Accessed: March 15, 2023) theSkimm (2023) Saudi Arabia's Smart City : Flying Taxis, No Carbon Emissions, and Lots of Controversy theSkimm theSkimm Available at: https://www theskimm com/news/saudi-arabias-smart-city-draws-lines-of-controversy (Accessed: March 18, 2023) Venema, M T and V (2022) Neom: What's The Green Truth behind a planned eco-city in the Saudi Desert?, BBC News BBC Available at: https://www bbc co uk/news/blogs-trending-59601335 (Accessed: March 18, 2023)