Saudi to build a zero-carbon city in NEOM business zone

Saudi Arabia’s crown prince unveiled plans on Sunday to build a zero-carbon city at NEOM, the first major construction project for the $500 billion flagship business zone aimed at diversifying the economy of the world’s largest oil exporter.

Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, in a rare televised appearance, said the city, known as “The Line”, would extend over 170 km (105 miles) and be able to house a million residents in “carbon-positive urban developments powered by 100 per cent clean energy”.

“Why should we sacrifice nature for the sake of development?” Prince Mohammed said. “We need to transform the concept of a conventional city into that of a futuristic one.”

The prince later told reporters in the northwestern city of Al Ula that the project was the conclusion of three years of preparation, adding that its infrastructure would cost $100 billion to $200 billion.

“The backbone of investment in ‘The Line’ will come from the $500 billion support to NEOM by the Saudi government, PIF and local and global investors over 10 years,” he added.

The kingdom’s sovereign wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund (PIF), is the cornerstone investor in NEOM, a 26,500-square-km (10,230-square-mile) high-tech development on the Red Sea with several zones, including an industrial and logistics areas, planned for completion in 2025.

There have been few announcements regarding NEOM since it was announced by de facto ruler Prince Mohammed to much fanfare in 2017 as a pillar of his Vision 2030 plan to rid Saudi Arabia of its reliance on crude oil revenues.

A Saudi statement said construction would start in the first quarter of 2021 and that the city was expected to contribute $48 billion to the kingdom’s gross domestic product and create 380,000 jobs.

Saudi Arabia, the world’s top crude exporter, announced the launch of an eco-city “with zero cars, zero streets and zero carbon emissions” at its futuristic NEOM mega development.

The $500 billion NEOM project, set to be built from scratch along the kingdom’s picturesque Red Sea coast, is billed as a development evocative of a sci-fi blockbuster.

Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman unveiled plans for a city, dubbed “The Line”, in a presentation broadcast on state TV.

It consists of “a city of a million residents with a length of 170 kilometres (105 miles) that preserves 95 per cent of nature within NEOM, with zero cars, zero streets and zero carbon emissions,” he said.

“We need to transform the concept of a conventional city into that of a futuristic one,” added the de facto leader of the Arab world’s leading economy, regularly ranked among the world’s most polluting countries.

Prince Mohammed showed computer-generated images of “The Line” as well as landscapes of pristine deserts and blue seas.

The pedestrian city will have services such as schools, health centres and green spaces, as well as high-speed public transportation, with no journey expected to take more than 20 minutes, according to a NEOM statement.

Artificial Intelligence will play a key role in the city, the statement said, adding that “it will be powered by 100 per cent clean energy, providing pollution-free, healthier and more sustainable environments for residents”.

Construction of the city will begin in the first quarter of this year, with funding from the Public Investment Fund, the main vehicle through which the kingdom is diversifying its economy beyond oil.

The project is slated to create 380,000 jobs and contribute 180 billion riyals ($48 billion) to the kingdom’s GDP by 2030, the NEOM statement said.

Meanwhile the Saudi Arabia’s non-oil private sector enjoyed robust growth at the end of the year, driven by a substantial increase in output and the fastest rise in new business for 12 months.

Nevertheless, firms were cautious about hiring due to reports of excess capacity and the diverting of spending to input purchases.

The headline seasonally adjusted IHS Markit Saudi Arabia Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) rose to its highest reading for 13 months in December, up from 54.7 in November to 57.0, signalling a sharp improvement in operating conditions. In addition, the index marked a fourth successive month of expansion and was broadly aligned with its average level of 56.9.