The most ambitious and most expensive mega-project of our time, the city of the future, 33 times larger than New York, half a trillion dollars, there will live hundreds of millions of people, nothing more ambitious in the world is not built. Only here will use the technology of cloud sowing to make it rain over the desert more often. create a progressive educational system, where school teachers will be replaced by holograms. build an island in the style of "Jurassic Park", with robotic dinosaurs.., will launch every night a fleet of drones, which will project the illusion of the world's largest moon. Only here will take tourists around the city by air cab, change the coastline of the Red Sea and add to the beaches glowing in the dark amazing sand.
This is Neom.
Saudi Arabia is creating a giant technological city on the Red Sea coast. The territory, in the development of which the authorities are going to invest $ 500 billion, should become a new Silicon Valley.
The new city will be located near the borders of Egypt and Jordan, and in the future it may be expanded in these countries. Neom will be located near the largest maritime trade corridor - the Suez Canal, which creates a potential for expanding economic ties between several continents.
The city of the future is gradually moving to the first stage of its creation - Neom Bay Airport has already taken its first commercial flight and the first phase of construction of the "great miracle" in Saudi Arabia has begun.
And still few specialists believe in the reality of rapid creation of a unique city of the future Neom. A huge budget of $500 billion is considered quite feasible for rich Saudi Arabia; the innovative development of desert areas on the Red Sea coast of more than 26 thousand square kilometers is also beyond any doubt.
In the summer of 2019, the construction of the first stage of the new Neom Bay Airport was completed, which already accepts the first commercial flights twice a week. This high-tech complex is the first in the region to be fully equipped with equipment supporting 5G high-speed network.
The first stage of the future city creation should be formally completed in 2021-2025. It includes construction of many hotels, shopping and entertainment centers with all necessary infrastructure in the area of Khuraiba and Sharma villages. Despite direct competition from the world-famous Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, located on the other side of the Red Sea, the developers of Neoma are confident in the success of the new innovative center for recreation and tourism.
The second stage of Neoma's construction is aimed at creating a scientific and industrial city in the desert based on the most advanced technologies. It is not quite clear yet whether the recreation zone being built in the first stage will be as high-tech as the other planned Neoma regions. For today in the city of the future the concept developers promise to realize:
full energy independence based on alternative energy sources, first of all solar and wind energy will be developed;
only unmanned transport, including flying cabs;
the highest degree of robotization - robotic police officers, robot doctors, robot cleaners, automatic factories and plants;
climate control - artificial clouds will appear over the lifeless desert to provide rain and irrigation to the land;
complete security for all residents and guests of the city based on artificial intelligence, surveillance cameras and flying drones.
Naturally, this is not a complete list of expected "technological wonders" in Neome. From the interesting - on the beaches should appear a unique "glowing in the dark sand", and a giant artificial moon will illuminate the vast territory. The whole region will receive new laws for a more comfortable life, including the first alcoholic beverages allowed on the territory of Saudi Arabia.
The main inspirer of large-scale changes in the country is 32-year-old Crown Prince and Minister of Defense Mohammed bin Salman. It was he who created the large-scale project "Vision 2030", which, according to the plans of the Saudi leadership, should radically change the way of life of citizens and rid the country of oil dependence, as well as develop health care, education, infrastructure and tourism. The construction of a high-tech city is only a small but very important part of the Vision 2030 implementation.
Despite the objective difficulties, the project is global, Neom continues to develop, according to the latest publications, about 20 thousand local residents are beginning to move out of the region, who after retraining will be able to find jobs in the city of future. ATMs and polyclinics appear on the seashore, hospitals are being built and infrastructure is being developed. An increasing influx of workers and engineers has raised rental prices in this region and the remaining local residents are "waiting for an unseen future".
Great article.