It’s an imagined city, and it looks like a science fiction dream. The futuristic city of mirrors is a Saudi Arabian project. It is the design of an unprecedented city. It will be called: The Line. It will be sandwiched between two mirrors 170 kilometers long and will be 200 meters wide.
It will have skyscrapers 500 meters high and will be free of roads, cars and emissions. It intends to run on 100% renewable energy. They say it will be able to house 9 million people and its surface will be 34 square kilometers.
Revolutionary city
All the necessary facilities will be within a five-minute walk. In addition, they assure something impressive: it will be possible to cross the 170 kilometers in only 20 minutes, although they do not yet say how.
If we compare its 500-meter walls, the Empire State is small. They project 9 million inhabitants. Madrid, for example, has 3 million.
According to Neom’s press release, the ‘TheLiners’ will be able to move in three dimensions: up, down and transversely. They have called this Zero Gravity Urbanism. And it will combine “public parks and pedestrian areas, schools, homes and workplaces. One will be able to move effortlessly to meet all daily needs in five minutes.”
“We are committed to a revolution in urbanism. We will put people first by radically changing urban planning. Vertically layered community designs will challenge traditional flat, horizontal cities. And they will create a model for preserving nature and enhancing human livability. The Line will address the challenges humanity faces in urban living today. We believe it will demonstrate alternative ways of living,” says Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
Questions
The futuristic city of mirrors generates doubts in some people. The architect and communicator Alejandro Csome explains them. He doubts that the same material is used to build ‘The Line’ in three different biomes (desert, mountain and valley). Indicates that it will be difficult for such a large city to have zero carbon emissions. Especially during its construction. The appearance of “flying trees” in the project’s presentation video also puzzles him.
Be that as it may, for the future to exist we must first dream it. And this city looks like a dream.
