July 28, 2022 · less than 3 min read
Plans for the vertical city are well and truly afoot.
Walk the line
The Saudi kingdom first hinted at the vertical city some years ago. But in a 3D artist’s visualization just revealed to the public, this ‘city of the future’ is now a go. Check out the video for yourself.
The headline figures are undoubtedly impressive. This vertically layered city, spread over 170 km and only 200 meters wide, will house around 9 million people. All your key amenities will be within five minutes walk, and the city will be run on “100 percent renewable energy” in an environment “free from roads, cars, and emissions”.
A whole new world
This uber impressive design is going to be funded by a mix of the kingdom’s own money and an…IPO? In addition to raising 600 billion riyals ($160 billion) from its sovereign wealth fund, the kingdom is planning on launching an IPO by 2024, which should raise 1 trillion more riyals ($266 billion). It’s the best news property investors have probably ever heard.
Aside from creating the megacity asset class of investing, NEOM is striving to become the first ‘cognitively connected’ community, leveraging the most innovative tech, AI, virtual reality, and data insights to push the boundaries of what’s possible in urban living.
There’s an inevitable amount of balk that this is, of course, a Saudi-backed project and all the ethical dilemmas that entail. But as far as the future of cities goes – this is one hella exciting development.
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