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The Futuristic Mega City Designed To Have No Roads, Cars or Emissions
The Line is being billed as the future of urban living
In the remote deserts of Saudi Arabia, one of the most ambitious urban plans in history is taking shape. The Line is a futuristic city planned to stretch for 170 km from the Trojena all the way to the shores of the Gulf of Aqaba. What makes The Line so fascinating is that the city is planned to be 170 km long but just 200 m wide, making it a literal line in the desert. The city is being designed to accommodate 9 million people who will live in blocks where everything is available within a five-minute walk. The city is going to be long, skinny, and tall. The Line is supposed to stand 500 m high, making it look like a giant skyscraper lying on its side.
The city is still in the early planning stages, is a part of Saudi Arabia’s 2030 economic plan, and is a part of the wider Neom economic development project. If it comes to fruition, it will be a one-of-a-kind endeavor, and it could forge a new path forward when it comes to imagining and reimagining urban living. Saudi Arabia (ironically and rightly) points out that current urban living is inefficient. It is based on sprawl, which generates a need for cars and unnecessary infrastructure. The Line is designed to eliminate the redundancies in modern urban living and eliminate things like roads, parking lots, traffic jams, and polluting vehicles.
Here is how it is supposed to work.
Eliminating Cars
The driving idea behind The Line is urban living chunks that will exist within the city. Each chunk will contain everything a person needs to live, including grocery stores, parks, entertainment venues, restaurants, doctor’s offices, and more. All of these services will be walkable thanks to an extensive series of walkways within the city itself. There will be no roads and no need for cars. If a person wants to visit a different section of the city, a linear high-speed rail will run down the center, which will allow people to travel end to end in as little as twenty minutes.
The combination of high-speed trains, electric trams, and a design built to exclude cars will eliminate the need for traditional transportation within The Line.
