It’s A Bird, No A Plane, It’s… A Side-Scraper? Saudis Break Ground On Desert Metropolis

New drone footage released by Ot Sky shows the breaking of ground on Saudi Arabia’s new megacity structure dubbed The Mirror Line.

The Line is a part of the Neom development, which is an ambitious project aimed at changing the future of Saudi Arabia to become a global leader in innovation and technology, and less reliant on oil.

What Happened: In the video, there is a birds-eye view of a fleet of loaders, excavators, and heavy trucks that can be seen breaking ground in the desert, preparing a foundation for The Line.

See Also: Saudi Arabia To Spend $1T On A 75-Mile-Long Sidescraper Dubbed The Mirror Line

The construction site also reveals an underground transportation system that is said to have an underground high-speed train that can travel from end to end in twenty minutes.

This horizontal city will need a trench that is 75 miles long to fit its twin 1,600 feet tall mirror-like walls, which will cost roughly $1 trillion at completion.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who is also chairman of the NEOM Board of Directors, unveiled the designs in mid-summer with an ambitious goal to finish the construction by 2030. “Neom will be a place for all people from across the globe to make their mark on the world in creative and innovative ways,” said bin Salman.

This autonomous paradise is said to house as many as 5 million people, be powered off renewable energy, and stretch to the coast of the Gulf of Aqaba.

You can check out the video below to see the commencement of The Mirror Line:

The 75 mile long sidescraper will feature:

Criticisms: According to human rights organization ALQST, they have reported that three men who were forcibly evicted from the Neom site in Saudi Arabia have been sentenced to death. The three members of the ​​Huwaitat tribe were sentenced after forcefully being evicted from the site of the mega project.

Furthermore, there have been doubts about the completion of the project, as the Saudis have abandoned other projects before, such as the mile-high skyscraper. Additionally, many engineers and architects are questioning the sustainability and completion date of the side-scraper, as experts remain skeptical about the reality of the project.

Marshall Brown, director of the Princeton Urban Imagination Center and an associate professor of architecture at Princeton University said, “There would be so many physical and environmental phenomena that would have to be dealt with to achieve the incredible minimal and singular character that the renderings propose.”