by I scroll through the papers and all I find is large full page ads for new apartments, big gated communities and the recent fad, Villa houses by the lake. Despite a steep price tag , there’s always a taker, to buy these houses for investments.But, at what cost to the environment? Many parks, forests ,lakes and rivers in the country are now replaced with Skyscrapers, Hotels, Resorts or Malls. I recall a tiger strolling to a friend’s building near Bannerghatta Zoo recently, panicking the residents. Incidentally the building was earlier part of the natural reserve but unfortunately now part of the Urban Bangalore area. Maybe the tiger just strolled to find its old house and found only humans and large cars honking away.
The solution to creating a Green , self-sustaining , eco-friendly society was something I discovered in Twitter, called the NEOM. The Ad was from Saudi Arabia that kinda got me to the idea of the society of the future. The “NEOM” project stood for the “The New Future” , inaugurated by the HRH Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia.
What is the NEOM project?
Estimated at $500 Billion, NEOM was commissioned by Saudi Arabi to literally move to a self sustainable society. For a country that currently has a massive dependence on Oil & Petroleum, this was a major shift to becoming an environmental friendly, sustainable country .
Where is it?
The NEON area lies between the region in northwest Saudi Arabia on the Red Sea, east of Egypt across the Strait of Tiran, and south of Israel and Jordan.
The Line At NEOM
The LINE project in NEOM is quote literally a 170KM long line . NEOM expects to host more than a million people from end to end. The society will not have cars, built around nature and everything is available over a 5 minute walk. The place is therefore devoid of pollution, traffic and congested living conditions. The Line at NEOM aims to preserve 95% of nature and most importantly has zero carbon emissions.
Transportation at NEOM
The Line has an Ultra High-Speed Hyper Transit System that transports people end to end in just 20 minutes (160KM+ long)
Key Advantages of NEOM Project
- It’s a car free zone . People can walk just 5 mins for the nearby store or take the underground Ultra High speed Transit.
- It follows a “carbon-positive” urban developments powered by 100% clean energy, providing pollution-free,renewable , sustainable environments for residents
- The focus is on the nature than the society itself
Why am I talking about this now?
So , you might be wondering, why am I writing about NEOM project . To begin with , this is in no way a promoted or a sponsored post. I found the concept of a new futuristic region with Hyperloop transit systems , renewable energy and jobs for 350,000 people , revolutionary.
When I discovered the very creatively designed ad in Twitter, it made me realize that the solution we are searching for is here. Everything done in the LINE at NEOM may not be possible to adapt in a community within Asia. However, the concept of a society , that is built around nature is something we can consider. The concept of building a renewable, self-sustainable, pollution free society is definitely possible.
The blueprint for the Future of a Sustainable Society is here. When do you want to draw the Line?
This is the first time I heard about NEOM Project and it definitely sounds interesting. We have been so much enamoured with luxury living that we have quite forgotten about nature, flora and fauna. It is good to see that Saudi Arabia spearheading this project. I can only wonder if this will be possible in India!
A car free zone sounds excellent. Just the noise of horns is deafening. Living close to nature means we need to become as soft as nature itself. That would be a nice thing.
It’s really good to know about the project ‘NEOM’. It really comes at that time when worlds need creative thinking and new solution. Thanks for sharing
It is very good to know about project NEOM. I think now it’s time to think seriously about new solutions and out of the box to maintain sustainabilities. Nice idea to implement.
It is really heartening to read about the NEOM Project. It is really interesting to note that this is being championed by Saudi Arabia. The Line sounds like an incredible step towards sustainability, the world needs more and more of these kinds of projects.
Wow I had never heard of NEOM project till now. It is such an amazing step towards sustainability which has now become very crucial for our future generations. Thanks for this article, it gives a ray of hope.
Great to hear about the NEOM project and the sound free zone is such a bliss to the ears. Can Indians book there?
This is the first time I’ve heard about such a concept. Will be so cool to see this LIVE!