the Line vs. Shibam

The first phase of the Line will be named Hidden Marina and will stretch 2.5 km (1.5 miles) over the desert. It will rise to a height of 500 m (1,640 ft) and will be made up of three individual modular segments, with a mirrored exterior. Its built area will measure 21 million square meters (almost 5,200 acres).

— 200,000 residents

— 80,000 residential units

— 9,000 hotel rooms commercial and retail spaces

— more than 140,000 workers currently engaged

— US$140bn invested in infrastructure

— using 20% of the world’s available steel

— robotic workforce used in the rebar process

— multi-plant concrete factory

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fire stations, schools, police and security services, and AI-controlled surveillance “keeping an eye on occupancy and energy use.” (all details from “First 1.5-mile stretch of Saudi’s audacious Line megacity begins to rise“).

to be completed by 2030, in time for the 2034 World Cup

Shibam

— founded @3rd century

— capital of Kingdom of Hadhramaut in 300 AD

— continuously inhabited for an estimated 1,700 years