SAUDI Arabia has announced a megalomaniac project that would see a vast man-made MOUNTAIN built with luxury hotels and apartments.
The nation has been making mad investments as part of the Saudi Arabia Vision 2030 to fund the wildly ambitious project Neom – but critics say it is at the cost of its citizens.
In a desperate attempt to become the centre of the world, Saudi is set to spend more than $175billion every year on mega projects between 2025 and 2028 – with about $1.3trillion of major projects in the works.
The wildly ambitious Neom is set to become a smart city – a region that will be characterised by numerous cities, lavish resorts, and other tourism-based real estate developments.
Siranna, the latest plan under the project, is a stunning hotel that will be built on a human-made mountain with standout architecture.
The entire building will be carved into the mountainside and will host facilities such as a signature beach club, a grand wellness facility, and beautiful nature trails that could be discovered on foot or horseback.
Multiple pools will be built across the hotel with breathtaking views of the Red Sea – and each pool will lead to a golden private beach.
These projects, however, have faced fierce criticism over human rights violations – especially the $500billion Neom project where tribes were shoved out of their homeland, imprisoned or executed.
Campaigners say two towns have been cleared and 20,000 members of the Huwaitat tribe were forcibly removed, without compensation, in order to achieve the mega feat.
Through this project, Saudi aims to diversify the country’s economy in order to reduce its dependence on oil.
Backed by Saudi’s $500billion Private Investment Fund – the group which bought Newcastle United – the plans for Neom are so ambitious that some of the technology doesn’t even exist yet.
The Neom city will be located on the border with Jordan and Egypt and will start welcoming residents and businesses by 2025.
It will be 17 times the size of London and “a centre for the development of robotics”, according to the developers.
Planning docs show the city will have flying taxis – a vehicle depicted in science fiction films such as Blade Runner and Back to the Future II.
The most ambitious part of the project is The Line – a 100-mile linear city building that will house some nine million people.
It will run from east to west across the Neom region and will be clad with mirrored facades.
Another jaw-dropping plan under the project is OXAGON – a planned octagon-shaped port city that will be built on the Red Sea at the far south of the Neom region.
According to the developers, its port and the logistics hub will be the “largest floating structure in the world”.
“OXAGON will contribute to redefining the world’s approach to industrial development in the future, protecting the environment while creating jobs and growth for NEOM,” said Mohammed bin Salman.
“It will contribute to Saudi Arabia’s regional trade and commerce and support creating a new focal point for global trade flows.”
A ski resort in the Sarwat Mountains near the north of the Neom region will be built as Trojena.
The 60-square-kilometre skiing and outdoor-activity resort will offer year-round skiing and is set to host the 2029 Asian Winter Games.
Another island resort called Sindalah is planned within the Red Sea.
Aimed at the yachting community, the 840,000-square-metre island will have an 86-berth marina and numerous hotels.
The first batch of guests will be welcomed as early as 2024 – and the island resort will be the first of 10 regions completed as part of the Neom mega-development in north-eastern Saudi Arabia.
However, this ambitious project has been encircled with broad concerns about human rights in Saudi Arabia and for the people who will be building the mega city.
Authorities in the port city of Jeddah also demolished many houses to implement Saudi’s development plans – with thousands of locals evicted illegally.
One campaigner claimed: “Neom is built on Saudi blood”.
Jeed Basyouni, Middle East director of the human rights organisation Reprieve, told DW: “We have seen, time and again, that anyone who disagrees with the crown prince, or gets in his way, risks being sentenced to jail or to death.”
In September last year, three tribe members were allegedly executed for opposing eviction from the construction site.
