Future or fantasy? All you need to know about Saudi Arabia’s new NEOM megacity, touted to be 33 times larger than NYC

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is back in the news with his ambitious project — the NEOM city state. Being built on the Red Sea in northwest Saudi Arabia, the $500 billion city-state promises to be humanity’s next chapter. Earlier this week, the prince announced that NEOM would house TROJENA, an all-year-round ski village, a nearly two-mile man-made freshwater lake and the Vault — a ‘vertical village within the mountain with a fusion of technology, entertainment and hospitality facilities’. Let’s take a look at what is being promised in this $500 billion city-state and why Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is pushing for its construction. All about NEOM The new city-state is named from a combination of the Greek word for “new” and the Arabic term for “future”. The plan for the city is to cover 10,000 square miles of Saudi Arabia’s Tabuk province, near its borders with Jordan and Egypt. A glance at the website reveals that the futuristic megacity is touted to be 33 times the size of New York City.

Initial plans for the city include flying drone taxis, a Jurassic Park–style amusement park, and a giant artificial moon that lights up nightly. Reports state that the futuristic city-state is being built using artificial intelligence and clean energy sources. The planners of the city have said that they would provide bullet trains and hyperloop for transportation, but residents would be encouraged to use bicycles. The BBC has reported that NEOM city is part of Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 plan to wean the country off oil — the industry that made it rich. The developers of the city also added that it would exist entirely outside the confines of the current Saudi judicial system, governed by an autonomous legal system that will be drafted up by investors. Within NEOM, there would be Oxagon, a city floating on water spanning 7km (4.3 miles) - making it the largest floating structure in the world. NEOM would also be home to TROJENA — a mountain tourism destination, which will offer year-round outdoor skiing, a wellness resort and an interactive nature reserve, among other experiences.

According to a press release, Trojena expects to attract 700,000 visitors and 7,000 permanent residents by 2030. It was also claimed that the project would create 10,000 jobs and add 3bn riyals ($800m) to the Saudi economy. Reason to build NEOM Other than the obvious reason of tourism and generating money for the economy, experts note that there are other underlying reasons for Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s megacity. Many believe that the opulent city is an attempt by the prince to repair the country’s tarnished image. The Middle-Eastern nation has drawn ire over its military operations in Yemen, and also the alleged personal involvement in the killing of Washington Post journalist and Saudi government critics Jamal Khashoggi in Turkey in 2018. The kingdom’s reputation has further been tarnished owing to the crackdown on dissent in 2020. Criticism for NEOM One of the biggest criticisms that the Saudi prince is paying for his dream project is that the Huwaiti tribe, who resides on the land where the project is expected to come up, is being displaced. The Guardian reports that at least 20,000 members of the tribe now face eviction due to the project, with no information about where they will live in the future. In April 2020, tribal activist Abdul-Rahim al-Huwaiti was shot dead shortly after making videos protesting against his eviction, prompting outrage from human rights activists. Alya Al-Huwaiti, a London-based Saudi human rights activist and dissident, and a member of the tribe, was quoted as telling Middle East Eye: “The message it sends to members of the tribe, especially, and to all the citizens of Saudi Arabia, is that the tyrant MBS is willing to commit international crimes such as forced displacement and destroy their homes and spend billions of their money for his delusional project. It’s a message of anger and unprecedented oppression.” Critics also accuse Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman of greenwashing - making grand promises about the environment to distract from reality. But Fahad Nazer, the government spokesman, denies allegations of greenwashing and insists that Saudi Arabia is heading towards a green future. With inputs from agencies Read all the Latest News , Trending News ,  Cricket News , Bollywood News , India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.