By Abbas Nazil
Saudi Arabia’s ambitious urban mega-project, “The Line,” part of the broader NEOM initiative, is drawing global attention not only for its bold vision of a linear city spanning 105 miles through the desert but also for the growing environmental concerns it has ignited.
The project, a key feature of Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 plan, envisions a mirrored skyscraper stretching across the desert to house nine million people in a sustainable, high-tech environment.
However, environmentalists warn that the project’s scale and design—particularly its mirrored facade—could cause catastrophic harm to migratory bird populations that rely on the region as a vital stopover.
The structure’s reflective surfaces, designed to blend into the desert while symbolizing modern innovation, are also seen as deadly traps for birds.
Saudi Arabia lies along one of the world’s busiest migratory flyways, and critics argue that The Line, if completed as planned, could become a lethal wall, disrupting the flight paths of countless bird species and potentially causing mass avian fatalities.
Birds are unable to distinguish the reflective walls from the sky, leading to collisions that could devastate already vulnerable populations.
The potential for tens of thousands of bird deaths annually has prompted global environmental organizations to call for immediate reassessment of the project’s environmental impacts.
Despite its grand aspirations, The Line is also facing significant construction hurdles. The original target of housing nine million residents by 2030 is now being scaled back, with revised projections estimating just 300,000 inhabitants by that date.
Progress has largely been confined to excavation, and foundational engineering challenges continue to delay broader construction.
These setbacks, along with mounting criticism over environmental oversight, have cast doubt on the feasibility of the project’s original timeline and scale.
The Line presents a stark dilemma: how to harmonize visionary urban development with the responsibility to protect biodiversity and ecosystems.
While the project symbolizes a bold reimagining of sustainable living in extreme environments, it also highlights the ecological risks of megastructures imposed upon delicate natural habitats.
The controversy surrounding The Line underscores a broader tension in modern development: the pursuit of technological advancement and luxury urbanism must not come at the cost of irreplaceable wildlife and ecological systems.
As the project advances, it remains a test case for whether cutting-edge innovation can truly coexist with environmental preservation—or whether such progress will leave irreversible damage in its wake.