Saudi Arabia has announced THE LINE, a zero carbon city that it says will be a blueprint for how ‘people and planet can co-exist in harmony’.

THE LINE is a 170km belt of hyper-connected future communities, without cars and roads and built around nature, created as a direct response to some of the most pressing challenges facing humanity today such as legacy infrastructure, pollution, traffic, and human congestion.

The city is the work of NEOM, which describes itself as an accelerator of human progress and a vision of what a New Future might look like – it’s part of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds in the world.

A cornerstone of Saudi Vision 2030 and an economic engine for the Kingdom, the country says it will drive its diversification and aims to contribute 380,000 jobs of the future and SAR180 billion ($48bn) to domestic GDP by 2030.

Walkability will define life on THE LINE – all essential daily services, such as schools, medical clinics, leisure facilities, as well as green spaces, will be within a five-minute walk.

Saudi says Ultra-high-speed transit and autonomous mobility solutions will make travel easier and give residents the opportunity to reclaim time to spend on health and wellbeing. It is expected no journey will be longer than 20 minutes.

THE LINE’s communities will be cognitive, powered by Artificial Intelligence (AI), continuously learning predictive ways to make life easier, creating time for both residents and businesses. An estimated 90% of available data will be harnessed to enhance infrastructure capabilities far beyond the 1% typically utilized in existing smart cities.

THE LINE will also comprise carbon-positive urban developments powered by 100% clean energy, which the state says will provide pollution-free, healthier and more sustainable environments for residents. Mixed-use communities will be built around nature, instead of over it.

NEOM’s sectors of the future, headed by global industry leaders, are already addressing some of the world’s most pressing challenges. They are pioneering a new marketplace for breakthrough innovations and creating opportunities to attract talent, investors and partners to become part of its business ecosystem.

Construction of THE LINE will commence in Q1 of 2021. THE LINE is one of the most complex and challenging infrastructure projects in the world and forms part of extensive development work already underway at NEOM.