Promising to reimagine what a climate-resilient city of the future could look like, the project has been dubbed “NEOM,” referencing the Ancient Greek prefix “neo,” meaning new. The “m” refers to “mustaqbal,” an Arabic word for “future.” The mega-city—an initiative driven by crown prince Mohammed bin Salman—will contain 10 separate regions, including The Line, a 170-kilometer city that will house nine million people in two parallel 500-meter-high linear skyscrapers built 200 meters apart. NEOM will also reportedly be powered entirely by renewable energy, and developers allege that 95% of local land and sea will be conserved and protected.
K.O.
The Long View