Featured Image Credit: LinkedIn/Giles Pendleton
Topics: World News
Jess Hardiman
Incredible pictures reveal the sheer scale of the $1,000,000,000,000 megacity that’s currently under construction in Saudi Arabia.
The images follow stunning drone footage from the site:
The $1 trillion megacity, dubbed The Line, is being constructed in the north-west of Saudi Arabia.
It is part of the Neom development, which is expected to be a staggering 170km long and will house a number of other features including a ski resort and accommodation for the Saudi government.
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The ambitious project was officially unveiled back in 2022, with news that The Line was designed to house nine million people and would also be carbon-neutral, being powered entirely by renewable energy sources.
It will stand 500 meters tall and have a distinct mirrored facade, with the megacity expected to be around the same size as the state of Massachusetts.
After plans were announced, many people have doubted that the sprawling metropolis would actually get built, thanks to the sheer scale of the vision.
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However, COO Giles Pendleton has shared an update for his ‘naysayers’, having posted a series of latest photos to prove ‘Neom is real’.
He wrote on LinkedIn: "How to answer the naysayers about the incredible work being done in Neom?
"Show a cross section of the world’s largest building site from the mountains to the sea.
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"Massive excavations on The Line, the future of island resorts on Sindalah and the next generation of ports and logistics at Oxagon."
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Three weeks ago, Pendleton also showed off the ‘massive amount of dewatering’ underway, which would allow ‘deeper excavation in the hidden marina’.
“Spine station starting to emerge along with piling level for Marina modules,” he added.
The plans to construct a megacity were made by Crown prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud, who said the ‘liveability and environmental crises facing our world’s cities’ cannot be ignored, adding: “NEOM is at the forefront of delivering new and imaginative solutions to address these issues.”
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He claimed the project would be completed by 2030, but engineers have warned it could take up to 50 years for construction to be fully completed.
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The project has also not been without controversy.
Human rights organisation ALQST previously reported that three men were forcibly evicted from the Neom site and were due to be executed.
The organisation said Shadli al-Huwaiti, Ibrahim al-Huwaiti and Ataullah al-Huwaiti were all sentenced to death in October last year.