NEOM: Saudi’s Future Mega City

Saudi Arabia recently announced that it has completed one-fifth construction of its futuristic Mega city called the NEOM. The country is spending 500 billion USD to construct the city. The engineering projects in the future city will be powered by clean energy. There will be no cars in the streets. NEOM is a combination of two words NEO and M. NEO is a Greek word meaning New. And M in the name stands for the word Mustakbal, meaning the future. Also, the M stands for crown prince Mohammed Bin Salman.

Key Facts of NEOM

  • The proposal to construct the city was brought by crown prince Mohammed Bin Salman
  • The city is located on the Red Sea Coast and is larger than Kuwait or Israel. The city is spread around 26,500 square kilometres
  • There will be ten different regions in the city like the airport, bay, floating industrial complex, etc.
  • OXAGON: It is a floating industrial complex. It will house a desalination plant, a research centre, and a hydrogen plant
  • TROJENA: A skiing centre
  • Agriculture: 6,500 hectares of farmlands will be created outside the city
  • The 2029 Asian Winter Games will be hosted by NEOM
  • THE LINE: Smart city that will be housed within NEOM

Concerns

More than 20,000 people relocated. The Indigenous Howeitat tribe living in the area was terribly affected. Local water resources will be detoured. Artifical ski slopes will cause severe impact on the desert land. Unjust work terms with the employees in the project are also creating a ruckus.


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