Saudi Arabia plays home to several innovations in architecture, displaying some of the world’s most interesting and ambitious architecture, but the country’s newest urban project may just top them all. The country’s newest plan is to develop a tall and narrow strip of a city which is planned to be 170km long, house 9 million residents, and run entirely on renewable energy. The city will be powered by renewable sources, green hydrogen will earn export income, the design plans to recycle wastewater, and will feature the latest in “smart city” technologies and mixed-use buildings.
“The Line” is set to offer a new approach to urban design. The designers of this new concept city have made use of Zero Gravity Urbanism, layering the city functions vertically which results in residents having the possibility of seamlessly moving in three dimensions (up, down or across) to access them. The city will consist of roughly 220 yards, it will rise 500 meters above sea level, and residents will be able to run errands within a 5 minutes’ walk. The city has been designed with no roads meaning no space for cars. Residents will be able to move around using a high-speed rail system, carrying people from end to end in only 20 minutes.
Construction is already underway on the linear city, which is being built in the northwest of Saudi Arabia and Saudi projections call for 1.5 million people to live in The Line by 2030.
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