De megastad van Saoedi Arabië ter waarde van 1 biljoen dollar krimpt nu al

Imagine city that stretches in perfectly straight line for more than 100 miles with mirrored walls towering 1,600 ft high, no cars, no streets, and population of 9 million people all powered entirely by renewable energy. It sounds like something out of science fiction movie. But in 2021, Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman announced that this futuristic city would actually be built. The project is called The Line. To understand its scale, imagine drawing straight line from New York City to Philadelphia. That's roughly the same length, about 106 miles, as the city Saudi Arabia originally planned to build. The line is being constructed in northwestern Saudi Arabia in the Tabuk region. It begins near the coast of the Gulf of Aqaba on the Red Sea and stretches deep into the desert. The project is the centerpiece of NEOM, massive development zone that is supposed to become one of the most futuristic regions on Earth. What makes The Line so unusual is its design. Instead of spreading outward like normal city, it will be built between two gigantic mirrored walls forming narrow urban corridor. From the outside, it will appear like single reflective line cutting through the desert. The structure is planned to be about 500 tall, roughly 1,640 ft, which would place it among the tallest structures ever built. Its width will be only 200 or about 650 ft. Inside, the city is designed to be completely sustainable, running on 100% renewable energy. There will be no cars and no traditional roads. Everything residents need, schools, workplaces, parks, hospitals, and shops, is supposed to be within 5-minute walk. The original plan envisioned 9 million residents living in the city. To put that into perspective, the Saudi capital Riyadh spreads across about 760 sq miles and has roughly 7.5 million people. The line, however, is planned to house even more people in an area of just 13 sq miles, making it one of the most densely planned cities ever conceived. Transportation would rely on driverless underground high-speed rail system controlled by artificial intelligence. According to the original announcement, this train would travel from one end of the city to the other, over 100 miles, in just 20 minutes. Another futuristic feature is football stadium suspended about 350 over 1,100 ft, above the ground, which Saudi Arabia hopes could host matches during the 2034 FIFA World Cup. But despite the spectacular vision, reality has proven far more complicated. Originally, Saudi planners expected to build about 16 km, or roughly 10 miles, of the city by 2030 housing around 1.5 million residents. That plan has now been dramatically scaled back. Instead of 10 miles, the initial phase has been reduced to just three modules totaling 2.4 km, or about 1.5 miles. Instead of 1.5 million residents, the first phase is expected to house only around 300,000 people. In other words, the first phase represents just about 1.4% of the originally planned 170-km megacity. Satellite images show that excavation work for foundations has been carried out across large parts of the site, but actual construction is currently concentrated mainly on modules 45, 46, and 47. This section is known as Hidden Marina, and it is where the floating football stadium is also expected to be built with capacity of about 46,000 spectators. Even the scaled-down version raises serious questions among engineers and urban planners. The structure being built is still 2.4 km long, 500 tall, and 200 wide. To understand the scale, consider Taipei 101 in Taiwan, one of the tallest skyscrapers in the world. The space planned for The Line's first phase could fit around 120 buildings the size of Taipei 101. And Taipei 101 alone took 5 years to construct. So critics ask, if single skyscraper takes that long, how realistic is it to build structure equivalent to more than 100 skyscrapers within decade? If construction continues at its current pace, many experts doubt the project can meet its 2030 target. That also raises questions about the floating stadium planned for the 2034 World Cup, which may end up hosting matches somewhere else, possibly in cities like Riyadh or Jeddah, instead. Another challenge is transportation. The promise that train could travel 170 km in 20 minutes implies an average speed of around 510 km/h, or roughly 317 mph. The fastest commercial train currently operating in the world, the Shanghai Maglev in China, reaches about 460 km/h, or 286 mph, and that's without multiple stops along the route. Once stations and passenger stops are included, achieving that 20-minute travel time becomes even more difficult. Water is another major issue. The line is being built in desert region with virtually no natural freshwater sources. Saudi Arabia once relied heavily on underground fossil water reserves called aquifers, but about 80% of those reserves were depleted during large-scale desert farming projects in the 1980s. Because this fossil water does not naturally recharge, it cannot be relied on long-term. That means the city will depend almost entirely on desalination, turning seawater into freshwater. Desalination is extremely energy-intensive and expensive, and it also produces brine, highly concentrated salt byproduct that is often discharged back into the sea. Environmental scientists warn that large-scale brine disposal can damage marine ecosystems. Then there is the question of who will actually live there. The line is being built in remote desert region where there are currently no major population centers nearby. Even if the city is completed, will people want to move there? And if they do, will it be affordable? Many critics argue that the city appears designed primarily for wealthy residents and luxury tourism. But city of millions also requires teachers, engineers, healthcare workers, service employees, and construction workers. If ordinary workers cannot afford housing inside The Line, where will they live? And if they must commute daily from outside the city, where exactly would those surrounding communities be built? The financial challenges are equally daunting. Early estimates suggested the project might cost around 1.6 trillion dollars. Some recent estimates now suggest the total cost could rise to 4.5 trillion dollars, roughly four times the current GDP of Saudi Arabia. Even the first 2.4-km phase is expected to cost more than 300 billion dollars. The primary funding source for the project is Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, or PIF, the sovereign wealth fund built from decades of oil revenue. The fund currently holds assets worth roughly 925 billion dollars, but only the returns from its investments, about 7 billion dollars annually, are typically available for spending on projects like this. If the Saudi government were forced to begin spending the principal of the fund itself, it would create significant financial risk, especially if massive project like NEOM were to fall short of expectations. At the same time, the ongoing regional conflict involving Iran, the United States, and Israel has added another layer of uncertainty to Saudi Arabia's economic outlook as instability in the region has begun affecting energy markets and oil export routes, which remain the backbone of Saudi revenue. Because of these risks, Saudi Arabia has increasingly started directing more of its investments toward artificial intelligence, data centers, and advanced technology sectors, rather than committing all available resources solely to NEOM and The Line. Another major criticism concerns the mirrored exterior walls. Because The Line will be covered in reflective glass stretching for miles across the desert, some scientists warn it could act like giant magnifying surface, reflecting sunlight and potentially raising surrounding temperatures. Inside the structure, the dense vertical city could also trap heat. Maintaining comfortable temperatures would require enormous cooling systems operating continuously, which in turn would demand massive amounts of electricity. Those cooling systems would also release heat back into the surrounding environment, potentially increasing temperatures in the desert even further. There are also human rights concerns. The region where The Line is being built has historically been home to the Howeitat tribe, which has lived there for generations. According to reports from Amnesty International and other organizations, members of the tribe were relocated to make way for the project. One tribal member, Abdul Rahim al-Howeiti, reportedly refused to leave his ancestral home and spoke publicly on social media. He was later killed during security operation. Several others who resisted relocation were arrested and reportedly faced severe legal penalties. Critics say the project reflects vision inspired partly by science fiction films, including the futuristic worlds seen in movies like Star Wars. Supporters of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman say his goal is to create something radically different from traditional cities, something that has never been built before. But while the concept may be technically possible, many experts question whether it is financially realistic. At the same time, Saudi Arabia faces increasing competition from other Gulf countries. The United Arab Emirates, for example, recently launched $35 billion investment project in Egypt's Ras El Hekma coastal region with plans that could eventually grow into $150 billion tourism and development zone. Countries like Qatar and the UAE are also investing heavily in tourism, technology, and modern infrastructure. Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030 strategy aims to reduce the country's dependence on oil by diversifying its economy, and Neom is supposed to be the centerpiece of that transformation. But The Line is not the only Neom project facing challenges. Another major development, Trojena, was designed as mountain resort with an artificial lake and ski slopes that were supposed to host the 2029 Asian Winter Games. Construction delays have now pushed those plans into uncertainty, and the event may instead be relocated to Almaty, Kazakhstan. Recent reports also suggest that up to 20% of Neom's permanent workforce could face layoffs, highlighting the financial pressure facing the entire project. Even the leadership has seen sudden changes. The long-time CEO of Neom, Nadhmi Al-Nasr, stepped down unexpectedly in 2024 without an official explanation. Two other senior executives were also removed from their positions. Many analysts believe these leadership changes reflect mounting concerns about cost overruns, financial pressure, and construction delays. new executive, Eyad Al-Mudeifer, who previously managed the sovereign wealth fund financing Neom, has been brought in to control spending and realign the project with financial realities. All of this raises an important question. Will The Line ever be completed as originally envisioned, or will it remain one of the most ambitious and controversial urban experiments ever attempted? The uncertainty today is not just about engineering or finances. The broader geopolitical situation in the Middle East has added new layer of risk. The ongoing conflict in the region involving Iran, the United States, and Israel has already begun affecting regional stability and global energy markets. Tensions around the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world's most critical oil shipping routes, have at times threatened disruptions or blockades, which could directly impact Saudi Arabia's oil exports. Since oil revenues remain the backbone of the Saudi economy, any prolonged disruption could significantly affect the funding available for massive projects like Neom and The Line. And even if the current conflict eventually comes to an end, the long-term geopolitical uncertainty in the region may force Saudi leaders to rethink the scale, timing, or even the viability of such massive mega project. So, the big question remains, can Saudi Arabia actually build futuristic city like this in the middle of the desert, or will reality force the vision to change? Let me know what you think in the comments. And if you found this video interesting, don't forget to like it, share it with friends, and subscribe for more deep dives into geopolitics, mega projects, and the forces shaping our world.