00:00You're standing in the middle of a vast, empty desert in Saudi Arabia.
00:05But in the middle of that emptiness, two enormous mirrored skyscrapers rise side by side,
00:12in perfect parallel to each other.
00:14This isn't just some sci-fi concept.
00:17It's The Line, the centerpiece of Saudi Arabia's boldest urban project yet.
00:23Now, Saudi Arabia is already home to some of the most ambitious architecture in the world,
00:31from Riyadh's King Abdullah Financial District to the iconic Abraj Al Bayt Towers in Mecca.
00:38They've been working hard for years.
00:40But The Line is in a league of its own.
00:43This project was announced in 2021, and it is part of a larger vision for the country's future,
00:49called NEOM, a $500 billion megaproject designed to redefine how people live, work, and interact with the environment.
00:59I mean, what could go wrong, right?
01:01Well, I don't know.
01:03But Nadmi Al Nasser, the longtime chief executive of the ambitious project, has recently departed.
01:09Suspicious.
01:11Even more so because NEOM's statement issued soon after did not give any plausible reason for his departure.
01:18Then, The Line project itself was originally expected to cost around $200 billion.
01:24But by 2024, that number had skyrocketed to a mind-blowing $2 trillion.
01:31That's about twice Saudi Arabia's entire GDP.
01:35And if you ask independent experts, they think it could end up costing even more.
01:41At first, the plan was to build about 10 miles of the project and have 1.5 million people living there by 2030.
01:49By now, the expectations are way more modest.
01:53Only just under 1.5 miles are likely to be done by 2030, with fewer than 300,000 residents.
02:01The project has come across a lot of problems along the way.
02:05Engineering issues and management problems have caused major delays, and progress hasn't been as fast as hoped.
02:12And now, let's figure out what exactly is The Line.
02:16It's a literal city made up of two parallel skyscrapers, each towering 1,640 feet high.
02:23That's higher than almost all the tallest skyscrapers in the world.
02:27These skyscrapers are 656 feet wide and stretch for a mind-boggling 106 miles across the northwest of Saudi Arabia, right near the Red Sea.
02:40The most astounding thing? The entire city is actually within this one structure.
02:46There are no cars, no roads, no emissions.
02:50But we'll go into detail a bit later.
02:52The complex is supposed to house 9 million people, and all of this running entirely on clean energy.
02:59Such a project aligns perfectly with Saudi Arabia's ambitious Vision 2030 plan.
03:05The outside of the skyscrapers will be covered in mirrors that will reflect the surrounding desert landscape,
03:11creating an almost seamless blend between the city and its surroundings.
03:16Inside, there will be lush parks, cascading waterfalls, flying taxis, and even robot helpers to take care of everyday tasks.
03:25They're also planning to make an artificial moon as part of the city's design.
03:30One more thing that makes The Line so unique is its design.
03:34Unlike traditional cities that spread out horizontally, The Line is vertical.
03:39Everything – homes, offices, parks, schools, shopping centers – are stacked on top of each other in layers.
03:46This means that residents won't need to travel long distances to get what they need.
03:51In fact, the designers promise that all amenities will be within a 5-minute walk from anywhere in the city.
03:58And while it's compact in width, the city's vertically layered structure means it can comfortably fit all 9 million residents,
04:05while leaving plenty of room for parks, natural spaces, and modern conveniences.
04:10There's even a plan for year-round climate control, keeping both indoor and outdoor spaces at comfortable temperatures,
04:18no matter how harsh the desert weather gets.
04:21Of course, even with everything close by, people will still need to get around the city.
04:26Worry not. The Line has it covered in the most futuristic way possible.
04:31It features a high-speed train system that will travel from one end of the city to the other in just 20 minutes.
04:37That's 106 miles in 20 minutes, with only 4 stops along the way.
04:43Imagine being able to get anywhere in the city faster than you could drive across town in most places today.
04:50Besides the train, The Line will also have autonomous vehicles.
04:54Those will be cars and shuttles driving themselves with the help of advanced technology.
04:59They will handle everything from parking to going around obstacles.
05:03Even cooler, in The Line, every car, train, and any other piece of infrastructure will be connected in a huge network called the Internet of Things.
05:13Sensors and real-time data will allow traffic to flow smoothly, preventing delays and reducing congestion.
05:21They first spoke about the NEOM project in 2017.
05:25Besides The Line, NEOM is supposed to include an octagon-shaped floating industrial city and a posh mountain ski resort.
05:33There, Saudi Arabia will host the Asian Winter Games in 2029.
05:38Plus, there will be the world's largest green energy plant, which will make the region self-sufficient and sustainable.
05:45The goal of NEOM is to attract people from around the world, not just to visit, but to live there.
05:53Residents will even be given their own identity – NEOMians.
05:59Not everyone thinks this construction is a good idea.
06:02Some urban planners and architects have pointed out pretty big flaws in the city's straight-line layout.
06:08You see, in a regular city like Johannesburg, which covers way more ground than The Line, two random people are usually only about 20 miles apart.
06:19But in The Line, the average distance between two random people would be 35 miles.
06:24That's almost double, even though The Line's overall area is way smaller.
06:29This setup could make it harder for people to connect socially and might be a pain to navigate, even with a high-speed train zipping through it.
06:38Now, they promise that every resident will have everything they need within a five-minute walk.
06:43But there are doubts, too.
06:45People wonder if living in a super-compact, stacked-up design might end up feeling claustrophobic or even too much to handle.
06:53As for the whole mirrored exterior idea, it looks pretty cool in renderings.
06:58But there's an opinion it could actually mess with the environment.
07:02Reflecting all that sunlight in a desert might disturb local wildlife or create unexpected heat issues.
07:09The Line's high-tech features sound amazing, but they come with their own set of headaches.
07:14The city is supposed to run on the Internet of Things tech and autonomous vehicles.
07:19Sounds awesome, right?
07:21But how are they going to pull that off for a 106-mile-long city?
07:25For things to run smoothly, every piece of tech – cars, trains, infrastructure – needs to be perfectly in sync, sharing tons of real-time data.
07:34If there's even a tiny glitch, it could throw a wrench into daily life for millions of people.
07:40Then there's that high-speed train.
07:43It does sound like a dream, but actually building and keeping it running in the middle of a desert is not so easy.
07:50The heat, shifting sands, and wear and tear on the tracks could cause big delays and rack up costs pretty quickly.
07:58People around the world are questioning if the Line is even doable.
08:02The first inhabitants were supposed to start living there by 2030.
08:06But there are reports about scaling the project back, so that deadline feels like a big stretch.
08:12There's also a sustainability issue.
08:15The Line is supposed to have zero emissions and 100% clean energy.
08:20But building something so massive is bound to take tons of resources.
08:25With all these challenges, Saudi Arabia is looking into new ways to fund the Line and figure out which parts of their Vision 2030 projects to prioritize.
08:36An insider has recently said that some projects might go ahead as planned, while others could be delayed or scaled down.
08:43This lines up with what Ali Shahabi, who's on NEOM's advisory board, has said.
08:49He admitted that the Vision 2030 goals were always meant to be super ambitious.
08:54Like, almost too ambitious.
08:56But he argued that even if they only pull off part of it in time, it'll still be a big deal.
09:03That's it for today.
09:04So, hey, if you pacified your curiosity, then give the video a like and share it with your friends.
09:09Or if you want more, just click on these videos and stay on the Bright Side!
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