Saudi Arabia has authorized the use of lethal force to clear parcels of land needed for Neom, the $500 billion “smart city” project led by the crown prince Mohammed bin Salman. The colonel revealed it (to the BBC). Rabih Alenezi, former intelligence officer. According to the report, they were ordered to remove entire villages to make room for “The Line".
And at least one person was shot and killed during an anti-eviction protest. Despite requests, both the Saudi government and Neom management declined to comment.
The Line: a futuristic city that wants to revolutionize urban life. With lethal force?
The Line, designed as a car-free city 170 kilometers long and 200 meters wide, aims to revolutionize urban living. However, progress is slow: the reduced estimates they say that only 2,4 kilometers expected to be completed by 2030. And evidently the "resistance" in the eviction of legitimate residents also weighs heavily: official government data indicate that over 6.000 people have been transferred for the project, but the human rights group ALQST estimates a higher figure.
Who is right? Satellite images shared by the BBC indicate the demolition of at least three villages (al-Khuraybah, Sharma and Gayal) to make room for Neom. The villages, says Colonel Alenezi, were inhabited by the Huwaitat tribe, labeled "rebel" by a government decree.
Neom is the core of Mohamed Bin Salman's ideas. That's why he was so brutal in dealing with the Huwaitat.
Rabih Alenezi
Neom: a cosmopolitan dream bigger than New York
Speaking at an event in Jeddah in 2022, the crown prince said Neom would be home to more than nine million people.
The definitions of this project are wasted. Where do we want to start? the “first linear vertical city in the world”. The city with “zero cars, zero pollution and zero carbon emissions”, and so on. The complex, which spans 26.500 square kilometers along the Gulf of Aqaba and Saudi Arabia's Red Sea coast, promises to be 33 times larger than New York City.
The name Neom, derived from the Greek term “Neo” and the Arabic word for “future”, highlights its futuristic aspirations. Two buildings, the world's largest structures, will reach a height of nearly 500 meters (1.600 feet) and run parallel for 120 kilometers (75 miles). Touted as an “architectural marvel,” when ready, Neom will “run in a straight line” from the Neom Mountains to the Red Sea. I hope it is not a "red line" in the literal sense: a trail like the one left for the construction of the pyramids, in terms of pharaonic projects.
