Construction Begins On Saudi Arabia’s latest Mega-Project

Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince and Minister of Defense Mohammed bin Salman speaks with Secretary of Defense Ash Carter at the Pentagon Photo: Adrian Cadiz / Department of Defense

In recent weeks, construction has begun on Saudi Arabia’s latest mega-project.  As a part of grand visions for a post-oil world, Saudi Arabia has poured trillions into projects that often seem unrealistic and draw international criticism, with the latest project appearing unrealistic even by the country’s ambitious standards.

While many claimed that the project would be a complete non-starter, drone footage has confirmed that progress has begun on the groundwork for the Kingdom’s latest endeavor: The Line.  The Line is a $500 Billion emissions-free smart city that is a centerpiece to Saudi Arabia’s effort to transform the country.  Unlike a traditional city, the Line is an entirely enclosed 656 feet wide, 1640 feet tall and 105-mile-long building.  This would make the finished city taller than the Empire State building and over eight times longer than Manhattan.  The blueprints include a number of huge technological challenges, such as high speed transportation facilitated by flying taxis and a giant artificial moon.  The promotional footage shows a gleaming city in the desert with a lush interior that resembles the most optimistic solar-punk aesthetics.  Beyond beautiful aesthetics, the Saudis have claimed that this is a reasonable investment for the future of the country.  For example, the city hopes to produce 380,000 new jobs by 2030.

 The development has received its fair share of controversies already, including claims that at least 20,000 member of the local Huwaitat tribe have been displaced from their homes.  The Saudi Government claims that the displaced people will be compensated appropriately but  their compensation status remains unclear.  In addition, the prospective city has drawn criticism for potential violations of privacy through the use of personal data to improve services.  This criticism is only made more potent in light of the country’s atrocious human rights record which includes continuous oppression of women and the execution of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

Kingdom Tower, Riyadh Photo: Mohammed Al-Deghaishim / United Nations

This project is only the Kingdom’s latest endeavor, with plans such as the Red Sea Project starting in 2018.  The claims around this ambitious development suggest that it will become “a luxury destination created around one of the world's last hidden natural treasures”.  Unsurprisingly, Saudi Arabia is not alone in trying to plan the perfect city with advances in technology.  Even in North America, Alphabet has had ambitions of creating its own neighborhood in Toronto with the latest technological breakthroughs improving the residents’ quality of life.  This trend is also not new, as Brazil attempted a similar feat with the construction of Brasília in the 1960s.  The track record of these projects has been a nearly universal failure, with the most prosperous cities continuing to emerge from little central planning and rarely shifting to entirely undeveloped areas.

Overall, Saudi Arabia aims to radically restructure its economy as a part of its Vision 2030.  The plans aim to boost sectors of the Saudi Arabian economy with the proceeds from the country's massive oil reserves to create a more stable and diversified economy.  Specifically, the country hopes that these mega-projects will turn the country into a tourist attraction.  The country has good reason to expect this strategy to pay off, with its neighbor,  The United Arab Emirates, turning Dubai into a tourist attraction with projects such as the Burj Khalifa.

Whether or not Mohammed bin Salman’s plans for a post-oil economy are fanciful or promising remains to be seen. Still, it does not appear that the escalation in the arms-race for the most aspiring mega-project in the Middle East is anywhere near its end.