- 7 weeks ago
Two of the most ambitious desert megaprojects ever attempted and the shocking truth behind them. In Kuwait, engineers carved an entire Sea City out of empty desert, creating 120 miles of artificial coastline and building neighborhoods around man-made lagoons. But why spend billions turning sand into water? Meanwhile in Saudi Arabia, the futuristic $2 trillion LINE city promised to reshape how humans live yet the project is now collapsing under its own weight. What really happened behind the scenes, and why is this bold vision falling apart? Animation is created by Bright Side.
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This video is made for entertainment purposes. We do not make any warranties about the completeness, safety and reliability. Any action you take upon the information in this video is strictly at your own risk, and we will not be liable for any damages or losses. It is the viewer's responsibility to use judgement, care and precaution if you plan to replicate.
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FunTranscript
00:00The Museum of Bad Art, or MOBA in short, used to be located in an old basement in Dedham, Massachusetts.
00:08And currently, you can find it in Somerville, Massachusetts.
00:13It only accepts art pieces that are so bad, you just can't ignore them.
00:18Their collection includes portraits. Get it?
00:22That's the name they use for portraits.
00:24And some really outrageous landscapes.
00:26There's also the MOBA Zoo, featuring really unfortunate depictions of our furry friends.
00:34Like any self-respecting museum, they also have a gift shop, where you can purchase some prints, postcards, or even a coffee mug with your favorite bad art.
00:43Speaking of really unique experiences, how would you like to spend time in jail without actually having to break the law?
00:50In Scotland, there's a place called Inverere Jail.
00:53It's an actual former prison that dates back to the 1800s.
00:56Where tourists can experience 19th century jail life.
01:01There are characters dressed in authentic costumes that make it even more realistic.
01:06You can participate in courtroom trials and work with other inmates.
01:09In Suwon, South Korea, visitors can check out a theme park built around the history and culture of toilets.
01:19It was opened in memory of the former city mayor.
01:23He dedicated a lot of time and local resources to improving the city's public toilets and sewer system.
01:28It goes without saying that this place has a lot of toilet-themed art documenting the world's restroom culture.
01:35You'll find everything here, from men's and women's bathroom signs from around the globe, to photographs of public toilets, and information about the importance of sanitary facilities.
01:46A designer store in the middle of the desert, if you happen to pass by Texas, you'll find a Prada store on an empty stretch of US-90 outside of the small town of Valentine, about 150 miles from El Paso.
02:02Two Berlin artists wanted to offer Texans the high-end experience.
02:08Sort of.
02:09That's because the Curious store has no door to access it and its 20 left-foot shoes and 6 purses set on display.
02:17Surprisingly, the store was built with the blessing of Miuccia Prada herself, the head designer of the brand.
02:22Can you imagine living in a city where you have your own beach access to a lagoon that leads directly into the sea?
02:30That might be possible in the near future, if you don't mind relocating to Sabah al-Ahmad Sea City in Kiran, Kuwait.
02:38This engineering masterpiece was inaugurated in 2016.
02:43Its canals form 120 miles of artificial shoreline.
02:48All those human-made islands were built by excavating large channels in the desert.
02:52Rather than using reclaimed land, as was done previously in similar conditions.
02:57Before visiting this museum, you have to take off the shoes you've been wearing and put on special slippers that won't damage the artwork.
03:04Because it's everywhere!
03:07It's called the Electric Ladyland, and it's the world's first museum of fluorescent art.
03:12The owner, Nick Palladino, exhibits here a lot of his own sculptures and even naturally luminescent rocks, along with other human-made glowing objects.
03:20One portion of this art gallery features paintings that shift color under UV light.
03:27The soundtrack is awesome too. You'll hear a lot of the Beatles and Jimi Hendrix.
03:34Upside-down houses seem to be quite a tourist attraction.
03:37You can find them in many countries, such as Japan, Poland, Germany, and Austria.
03:43One of the best ones to visit is located in Malaysia.
03:47It's called Ruma Turbolik Upside-Down House.
03:50It uses recycled wood and other natural materials to recreate a local atmosphere.
03:55It was opened back in 2012 and soon became a popular tourist attraction, with its upside-down furniture and wacky household appliances.
04:03There's even an upside-down car parked in the garage.
04:08A spa-themed park located in Hakon, Japan, provides tourists with an interesting array of hot springs.
04:14Some of them are quite unusual, especially the unique noodle bar, where visitors can literally swim in a bowl of ramen.
04:22It's not for tasting, though, since it's still a public space.
04:25The Dead Marsh in Namibia offers a cool experience, which makes you think you're frozen in time.
04:33Since there's no water here and temperatures are really high,
04:37this sparse forest is made out of skeleton trees that haven't been alive for more than 600 years.
04:43Since there's little to no humidity, the remaining vegetation cannot fall apart,
04:48leaving behind this odd natural landscape.
04:50It even became the set for some sci-fi movies.
04:54Spoiler alert!
04:56But the paper house located north of Boston, Massachusetts,
05:00is actually a house made completely out of paper, furniture and all.
05:05It was built by Ellis F. Stenman, the man behind the machine that makes paper clips.
05:10Back in the 1920s, he basically wanted a two-room summer home for him and his family.
05:15It took him over 20 years to complete, since the house was made of about 100,000 newspapers.
05:22Just make sure you don't bring any lighters.
05:30Cappadocia Cave Hotel in Turkey is a great place to stay for both history buffs and people
05:35who are into modern and luxurious decor.
05:37All of the rooms and suites are located inside the local cave dwellings,
05:43dating back to the Roman and Byzantine periods.
05:46Cappadocia is also famous for its hot air balloon tours.
05:50One of the reasons is because it's not very windy here,
05:53and the view of the city is really beautiful, especially during sunset.
05:57The small Indian town of Deshnok certainly wouldn't be on your vacation list if you don't like rats.
06:06A 14th century legend has it that the rats living here are to be protected and nurtured.
06:11Over 20,000 rats live inside this famous location these days.
06:15Since they've been living there for so long,
06:17the rats are quite friendly with both locals and tourists.
06:20The Battle of the Oranges is a local festival happening each year in late February
06:26in a small Italian town of Ivria.
06:29The local myth has it that the Carnaval d'Ivria started back in the Middle Ages.
06:34That's when locals stood against a hated ruler by throwing oranges at him in protest.
06:40It sounds like fun to join thousands of participants gathering there for three days
06:43to throw some oranges.
06:45Just don't forget to duck.
06:46Socotra Island in Yemen was separated from mainland Africa more than 6 million years ago.
06:53That's probably one of the reasons why this secluded island
06:56looks more like the set of a fantasy movie than a real location.
07:00The island has some incredible and unique flora.
07:03Most of the plants and trees that grow here are not found anywhere else in the world.
07:07Like, for example, the ancient Twisted Dragon's Blood Tree or the Bulbous Bottle Tree.
07:12Japan's Tashirojima is rightly nicknamed Cat Island since it has a population of 100,000
07:21humans and almost four times as many felines.
07:25The cats were initially brought here since the island produced a lot of silk, and mice
07:30like silkworms a lot.
07:32More so, the cats were seen as a sign of good luck.
07:35There are even cat-shaped cabins for tourists to settle in, and it probably goes without saying
07:40that dogs aren't allowed there.
07:43There are about 1,700 weirdly shaped hills in the middle of Bohol Island in the Philippines.
07:49They're so unique that you might easily mistake them for human-made.
07:54They are, however, part of the UNESCO heritage since they are naturally made out of coral deposits
07:59and shaped by rainwater erosion.
08:02Because of their quirky look, they earned the nickname of Chocolate Hills.
08:05Since during the dry season, their exterior goes from lush green to brown.
08:11Big fan of cascading pools?
08:13Then make sure to check out another UNESCO World Heritage Site located in Pumakale, Turkey.
08:20The name means Cotton Castle in Turkish.
08:22It's set in the ancient ruins of Hierapolis, a city that was built around the pools.
08:28Their crystal-clear waters cascade from natural springs down to white travertine terraces.
08:33The view is so beautiful that you won't know what to do at first.
08:37Take a picture or jump in.
08:42You're standing in the middle of a vast, empty desert in Saudi Arabia.
08:47But in the middle of that emptiness, two enormous mirrored skyscrapers rise side by side,
08:54in perfect parallel to each other.
08:55This isn't just some sci-fi concept.
08:59It's The Line, the centerpiece of Saudi Arabia's boldest urban project yet.
09:07Now, Saudi Arabia is already home to some of the most ambitious architecture in the world.
09:13From Riyadh's King Abdullah Financial District to the iconic Abraj al-Bait Towers in Mecca,
09:19they've been working hard for years.
09:22But The Line is in a league of its own.
09:25This project was announced in 2021,
09:28and it is part of a larger vision for the country's future called NEO.
09:32A $500 billion mega-project designed to redefine how people live, work, and interact with the environment.
09:40I mean, what could go wrong, right?
09:43Well, I don't know.
09:45But Nadmi al-Nasr, the longtime chief executive of the ambitious project, has recently departed.
09:51Suspicious.
09:53Even more so because NEO's statement issued soon after did not give any plausible reason for his departure.
10:00Then, the Line project itself was originally expected to cost around $200 billion.
10:05But by 2024, that number had skyrocketed to a mind-blowing $2 trillion.
10:13That's about twice Saudi Arabia's entire GDP.
10:17And if you ask independent experts, they think it could end up costing even more.
10:22At first, the plan was to build about 10 miles of the project and have 1.5 million people living there by 2030.
10:31By now, the expectations are way more modest.
10:35Only just under 1.5 miles are likely to be done by 2030, with fewer than 300,000 residents.
10:42The project has come across a lot of problems along the way.
10:47Engineering issues and management problems have caused major delays, and progress hasn't been as fast as hoped.
10:54And now, let's figure out what exactly is the line.
10:58It's a literal city made up of two parallel skyscrapers, each towering 1,640 feet high.
11:04That's higher than almost all the tallest skyscrapers in the world.
11:09These skyscrapers are 656 feet wide and stretch for a mind-boggling 106 miles across the northwest of Saudi Arabia, right near the Red Sea.
11:21The most astounding thing?
11:23The entire city is actually within this one structure.
11:27There are no cars, no roads, no emissions.
11:31But we'll go into detail a bit later.
11:33The complex is supposed to house 9 million people, and all of this running entirely on clean energy.
11:41Such a project aligns perfectly with Saudi Arabia's ambitious Vision 2030 plan.
11:47The outside of the skyscrapers will be covered in mirrors that will reflect the surrounding desert landscape,
11:53creating an almost seamless blend between the city and its surroundings.
11:56Inside, there will be lush parks, cascading waterfalls, flying taxis, and even robot helpers to take care of everyday tasks.
12:06They're also planning to make an artificial moon as part of the city's design.
12:10One more thing that makes the line so unique is its design.
12:16Unlike traditional cities that spread out horizontally, the line is vertical.
12:21Everything – homes, offices, parks, schools, shopping centers – are stacked on top of each other in layers.
12:28This means that residents won't need to travel long distances to get what they need.
12:32In fact, the designers promised that all amenities will be within a five-minute walk from anywhere in the city.
12:39And while it's compact in width, the city's vertically layered structure means it can comfortably fit all 9 million residents,
12:47while leaving plenty of room for parks, natural spaces, and modern conveniences.
12:51There's even a plan for year-round climate control, keeping both indoor and outdoor spaces at comfortable temperatures,
12:59no matter how harsh the desert weather gets.
13:03Of course, even with everything close by, people will still need to get around the city.
13:08Worry not, the line has it covered in the most futuristic way possible.
13:12It features a high-speed train system that will travel from one end of the city to the other in just 20 minutes.
13:18That's 106 miles in 20 minutes, with only four stops along the way.
13:25Imagine being able to get anywhere in the city faster than you could drive across town in most places today.
13:32Besides the train, the line will also have autonomous vehicles.
13:36Those will be cars and shuttles driving themselves with the help of advanced technology.
13:41They will handle everything from parking to going around obstacles.
13:44Even 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.
13:56Sensors and real-time data will allow traffic to flow smoothly, preventing delays and reducing congestion.
14:03They first spoke about the NEOM project in 2017.
14:06Besides the line, NEOM is supposed to include an octagon-shaped floating industrial city and a posh mountain ski resort.
14:16There, Saudi Arabia will host the Asian Winter Games in 2029.
14:20Plus, there will be the world's largest green energy plant, which will make the region self-sufficient and sustainable.
14:26The goal of NEOM is to attract people from around the world, not just to visit, but to live there.
14:34Residents will even be given their own identity, NEOMians.
14:40Not everyone thinks this construction is a good idea.
14:44Some urban planners and architects have pointed out pretty big flaws in the city's straight-line layout.
14:49You see, in a regular city like Johannesburg, which covers way more ground than the line,
14:56two random people are usually only about 20 miles apart.
15:01But in the line, the average distance between two random people would be 35 miles.
15:06That's almost double, even though the line's overall area is way smaller.
15:11This setup could make it harder for people to connect socially and might be a pain to navigate,
15:16even with a high-speed train zipping through it.
15:20Now, they promise that every resident will have everything they need within a five-minute walk,
15:24but there are doubts, too.
15:27People wonder if living in a super-compact, stacked-up design
15:31might end up feeling claustrophobic or even too much to handle.
15:36As for the whole mirrored exterior idea, it looks pretty cool in renderings,
15:40but there's an opinion it could actually mess with the environment.
15:44Reflecting all that sunlight in a desert might disturb local wildlife
15:48or create unexpected heat issues.
15:51The line's high-tech features sound amazing, but they come with their own set of headaches.
15:57The city is supposed to run on the Internet of Things tech and autonomous vehicles.
16:01Sounds awesome, right?
16:03But how are they going to pull that off for a 106-mile-long city?
16:07For things to run smoothly, every piece of tech—cars, trains, infrastructure—needs to be perfectly in sync,
16:14sharing tons of real-time data.
16:17If there's even a tiny glitch, it could throw a wrench into daily life for millions of people.
16:22Then there's that high-speed train.
16:24It does sound like a dream, but actually, building and keeping it running in the middle of a desert is not so easy.
16:32The heat, shifting sands, and wear and tear on the tracks could cause big delays and rack up costs pretty quickly.
16:40People around the world are questioning if the line is even doable.
16:43The first inhabitants were supposed to start living there by 2030, but there are reports about scaling the project back,
16:51so that deadline feels like a big stretch.
16:54There's also a sustainability issue.
16:57The line is supposed to have zero emissions and 100% clean energy.
17:02But building something so massive is bound to take tons of resources.
17:06With all these challenges, Saudi Arabia is looking into new ways to fund the line
17:12and figure out which parts of their Vision 2030 projects to prioritize.
17:18An insider has recently said that some projects might go ahead as planned,
17:22while others could be delayed or scaled down.
17:25This lines up with what Ali Shahabi, who's on Niam's advisory board, has said.
17:30He admitted that the Vision 2030 goals were always meant to be super ambitious.
17:35Like, almost too ambitious.
17:38But he argued that even if they only pull off part of it in time, it'll still be a big deal.
17:45That's it for today.
17:46So hey, if you pacified your curiosity, then give the video a like and share it with your friends.
17:51Or if you want more, just click on these videos and stay on the bright side.
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