Saudi Arabia unveils its vision for a city without cars and streets

Saudi Arabia has unveiled plans to build a zero-carbon, hyper-connected city in a 170km straight line that will “reimagine and revitalise the future of urban living”.

The Line, located in the kingdom’s Neom development, will be a $5bn futuristic megacity near the Red Sea. It forms part of Saudi Arabia’s 2030 strategy to grow and diversify its economy and move away from dependence on oil.

Major urban development

According to the kingdom, The Line is the first time in 150 years that a major urban development has been designed around people, without cars and streets. It will also be built around nature, rather than over it, preserving large areas of land for conservation. Walkability will define life in the city with all essential daily services, such as schools, medical clinics, leisure facilities, as well as green spaces within a five-minute walk.

Ultra-high-speed transit and autonomous mobility solutions will make travel easier between the communities 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.

“We need to transform the concept of a conventional city into that of a futuristic one,” said Mohammed bin Salman, crown prince of Saudi Arabia at the launch of the development.

“Today, as chairman of the board of directors of Neom, I present to you The Line. A city of a million residents with a length of 170km that preserves 95 per cent of nature within Neom, with zero cars, zero streets and zero carbon emissions.”