Neom & Saudi dreaming

Neom: What’s the green truth behind a planned eco-city in the Saudi desert?
www.bbc.com/news/blogs-trending-59601335
Glow-in-the dark beaches. Billions of trees planted in a country dominated by the desert. Levitating trains. A fake moon. A car-free, carbon-free city built in a straight line over 100 miles long in the desert. These are some of the plans for Neom - a futuristic eco-city that is part of Saudi Arabia’s pivot to go green. But is it all too good to be true? Neom claims to be a “blueprint for tomorrow in which humanity progresses without compromise to the health of the planet”. It’s a $500bn (£366bn) project, part of Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030…

Ali Shihabi, a former banker now on Neom’s advisory board, says the mega-territory will include a 170km (105m) long city, called The Line, which will run in a straight line through the desert…Much like Barcelona’s traffic-free “superblocks”, he explains that each square will be self-sufficient and contain amenities such as shops and schools so that anything people need will be a five-minute walk or cycle away…

The website claims that Neom will become “the world’s most food self-sufficient city”. It sets out a vision for vertical farming and greenhouses - revolutionary for a country that currently imports about 80% of its food…The “giga-project” is part of the crown prince’s vision of a greener Saudi Arabia. A week before the COP26 climate change negotiations he also launched the Saudi Green Initiative, announcing a target of achieving net zero emissions by 2060. That was initially seen as a major step forward in the climate community, but it didn’t stand up to scrutiny, says Dr Joanna Depledge…

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