The Line – A Blueprint for the Future of Global Development
Op-Ed by Tala Karkanawi, Staff Writer
January 28th, 2021
The launch of The Line, which is a ground-breaking 170-kilometer that consists of a zero-carbon, industrialized development project that include multiple hyper-connected communities. It produced plenty of interest and controversy to what the project is and could be about. However, amongst the Saudi citizens, it definitely received a lot of support and success and was also seen as one of Saudi’s brightest and most ambitious projects. NEOM is said to be an innovative$500 billion infrastructure development.
“Throughout history, cities were built to protect their citizens. After the Industrial Revolution, cities prioritized machines, cars and factories over people. In cities that are viewed as the world’s most advanced, people spend years of their lives commuting. By 2050, commute durations will double. By 2050, one billion people will have to relocate due to rising CO2 emissions and sea levels. 90 percent of people breathe polluted air," the Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman mentionedin a video he released.
Contrary to what others might think, he said that vehicles and cars might have been one of the revolutions and the developments that enhanced and expanded the cities we have today, but that made them turn out to be unsustainable.
The Line will include no vehicles whatsoever, hence it will not include any roads. It will also be the first city in the world to have a smart city blueprint that will solve what is called the fundamental law of congestion. The fundamental law of congestion discusses how the focus on insignificant matters in our lives, like spending money on roads and traffic, will result in overpopulation, which will take us back to square one because more money will be spent on infrastructure.
This is essential when it comes to environmental sustainability and the stability of climate change. Since climate change already effected the earth we live in, initiating a change is a great way to influence other countries as well. It is also significant to note the important of The Kingdom on the global economy and global development. Saudi Arabia has important rules and regulations when establishing the laws of international cooperation. The country played one of the biggest roles in protecting the global economy, especially with all the crisis it went through. The opening of NEOM, in addition, to its environmental protected city, adds new opportunities for citizens and people from all around the world. With a new city emerging within The Kingdom, this gives international corporations and organizations a chance to open up a franchise in the city, expanding their businesses, and globalizing the city of NEOM as well. The city is set to create more than hundreds of thousands of new jobs, especially innovative jobs that are a perfect fit for the smart city.
Alzaibag also mentioned how essential the schemes of NEOM when it comes to renewable energy and decentralized infrastructure systems which means that units and infrastructure will be completely self-sustainable.
What is significant about NEOM, especially the Line, is it is the start of a genuine change in the environmental disputes and hardships we have been facing for decades now. When a country as big and powerful as Saudi Arabia initiates a display of sustainability and protection, it generates and saves costs, as well as influences the developed countries to walk in their footsteps. Not only does this help in multiple social and environmental disputes, but it helps generate the international economy on a more positive scale.
Saudi Arabia, a country that is part of the G20, already had a meeting with the rest of the G20 ministers in regards to innovating their cities to become more environment sustainable a well as getting access to a cleaner and affordable energy. This could help in reducing the percentage of poverty we have at the moment, in addition to endorsing economic growth as it was mentioned before. This also adds hundreds of new jobs in the market, as well as gives the freedom of innovating new technologies for that matter.
The Line’s communities will be intellectual and perceptive, which means they will learn how to interact based on the communication with the residents in order to become more sustainable. The entire initiative will be powered by artificial intelligence and the main goal is to use 90% of the available data to improve the competences of the infrastructure, which is way enhanced than the 1% only used in smart cities. Artificial intelligence is the future of our societies and the civilizations we live in. With new technologies emerging, artificial intelligence is the basis for imitating human intelligence developments and progressions through the creation and application of algorithms. It allows the technologies to think like human beings which opens a door to a whole new world of thought.
NEOM could consequently play a key role in unravelling one of the world’s most tenacious problems: the absence to fresh water for millions of people. More than a billion people around the world do not have admittance to clean water, so the Solar Water/NEOM desalination project will give access to clean water for developing and undeveloped countries that are suffering to get access to clean and environmentally safe water.
This is why NEOM is a phenomenal, industrialized city that will change the living conditions of the future. It is a revolutionary concept that will approach the many issues and disputes we have in our future and the environment. NEOM is what they call the ‘brainchild’ of the Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman and an essential and significant part of his 2030 Saudi Vision in which he implements to reformulate the entire country before that, in addition to enhancing the country’s boosting economy and leading the country into a world of global development.