Saudi Arabia unveils city with no cars, streets, carbon emissions

By Nneka Nwogwugwu

Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has launched a city without the presence of cars, streets and carbon emissions.

Prince Salman announced the launch on Sunday, January 10.

According to him, “THE LINE” in Saudi Arabia’s NEOM, is an environmentally friendly city that “will reimagine and revitalize the future of urban living,”

THE LINE is said to be a never-before-seen approach to urbanization.

It is a 170-kilometer (kilometer) belt of re-imagined urban development with multiple, hyper-connected communities, with natural and walkable spaces.

While announcing the launch, the Crown Prince said, “We need to transform the concept of a conventional city into that of a futuristic one,”

“Today, as the Chairman of the Board of Directors of NEOM, I present to you THE LINE. A city of a million residents with a length of 170 kilometer that preserves 95 percent of nature within NEOM, with zero cars, zero streets and zero carbon emissions.”

According to a press statement by NEOM, the city will be built around nature, as large areas of land will be preserved for conservation, supporting NEOM’s environment and heritage.

The statement stated, ‘’All energy in NEOM will be 100 percent renewable, including solar, wind and hydrogen-based power generation. This will ensure clean and pollution-free urban environments.

‘’Communities will be powered by various types of renewable energy, allowing industry back into the heart of communities and creating an environment free from pollution.

‘’During development of THE LINE, strict environmental controls are put in place to preserve NEOM’s natural environment and rich heritage.’’

It also stated on its Twitter handle that ‘’Modern cities are polluted, congested, loud and disconnected from nature, compromising our quality of life.’’

‘’We are redefining urban space for future living, where people come first.

‘’Welcome to the new future.

Welcome to THE LINE. #whatisTHELINE ‘’the tweet stated.

Naturenews gathered from Al-arabiya that the Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman had announced the launch of NEOM project in 2017.

The city is positioned to become a high-tech, next generation city, and global center for innovation, trade and creativity in the Kingdom.

It is one of Saudi Arabia’s mega-projects, aimed at boosting the Kingdom’s tourism sector – a central tenant of Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 plan that aims to transform the country’s economy for a post-hydrocarbon age