Saudi Arabia plans 100-mile-long mirrored skyscraper megacity

theguardian.com:

A futuristic Saudi megacity is to feature two skyscrapers extending across a swathe of desert and mountain terrain, according to the latest disclosures on the project by the kingdom’s de facto ruler.

The parallel structures of mirror-encased skyscrapers extending more than 100 miles, known collectively as the Line, form the heart of the Red Sea megacity Neom, a plank of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s effort to diversify the Gulf state’s oil-dependent economy.

First announced in 2017, Neom has consistently raised eyebrows due to proposed flourishes such as flying taxis and robot maids, even as architects and economists have questioned its feasibility.

In a presentation on Monday night, Prince Mohammed sketched out an even more ambitious vision, describing a car-free utopia that would become the planet’s most livable city “by far”.

Analysts noted, though, that plans for Neom had changed course over the years, fuelling doubts about whether the Line will ever become a reality.

Neom was once touted as a regional “Silicon Valley”, a biotech and digital hub spread over about 10,000 sq miles (26,000 sq km).

Now it’s a vehicle for reimagining urban life on a footprint of just 13 sq miles (34 sq km), addressing what Prince Mohammed describes as “liveability and environmental crises”.

“The concept has morphed so much from its early conception that it’s sometimes hard to determine its direction: scaling down, scaling up, or making an aggressive turn sideways,” said Robert Mogielnicki of the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington.

Officials had earlier said Neom’s population would top 1 million, but Prince Mohammed said the number would actually hit 1.2 million by 2030, before climbing to 9 million by 2045.

The eye-popping total is part