[imagesource:neom]

The Pyramids of Giza, the Great Wall of China, and now the Line in Saudi Arabia.

That’s the sort of scale and ambition that the creators of Saudi Arabia’s city-sized skyscraper are aiming for, and the more time passes, the more it seems this dream will be realised.

Despite everyone’s initial scepticism that this ambitious project would actually materialise in the desert region, work is indeed progressing.

To quickly recap, the Line is a massive 170-kilometre-long, 500-metre-high, 200-metre-wide mirrored structure to be splayed across the desert near the Suez Canal that is expected to house a city of around nine million. That is a population roughly equivalent to that of New York City.

The Line is to be part of a new high-tech city named NEOM.

The idea is that the planned nine million residents of the skyscraper will be able to access all the facilities they need within a five-minute journey, while a high-speed train will also shuttle people from one end to the other in 20 minutes.

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman wants to erect this structure despite huge practical hurdles, not to mention alleged human rights violations and ecological issues, saying the city “will tackle the challenges facing humanity in urban life today and will shine a light on alternative ways to live”.

That may seem delusional, but New Atlas reported that work is indeed well underway and a new video provided by Neom proves that they’re taking this project seriously. The promotional video shows the world’s largest earthworks stretching across the desert into the distance, with excavators and lines of trucks busy preparing the necessary foundations for the building. The scale is incredible and work continues 24/7 to move around millions of cubic meters of soil and water each week.

Do you feel that? Mother Earth is stirring.

In a country that creates its own rain with cloud-seeding technology and a region that makes increasingly lavish artificial islands, this mirrored civilisation isn’t that much of a biggie.

While the Line is the most notable part of the upcoming Neom giga-project in Saudi Arabia, there have been an incredible number of other projects underway in the country as it attempts to transition from a primarily oil-based economy to that of a tourist destination. That includes a cuboid skyscraper large enough to hold 20 Empire State Buildings, a pair of spectacular skyscrapers, and a cliff-hanging arena.

I feel you Mother Earth, I feel you.

The first phase of The Line project is expected to be completed this year but no doubt there will still be a lot of work left to do beyond that point.

[source:newatlas]