@NewtonMark I think I know a way to save NEOM/The Line.
Here's how the Crown Prince, Beloved Leader of Saudi, can not only deliver, but enhance his vision of a ~180 kilometre long city of the future.
First, we need to save some money. So let's start by taking the roof off the travel corridor.
Instead of "the line", I call this cost-reduced version "the street".
In this configuration, you have an open-air "street" with separate "buildings" on either side.
And sure, a single long east-west street is certainly visionary.
But you know what's better than one? Twenty.
That's right, we'll have 20 streets running east to west.
But why stop there?
Let's bisect the 20 east to west streets with 20 more running north to south.
That's 40 streets in total.
If we divide the 180 km total length between these 40 streets, we're left with a length of 4.5 kilometres each.
I call this vision "the grid".
Now, because each of these streets are now 4.5 kilometres long, we can travel from one end of each street to the other far more quickly than a maglev could travel 180 kilometres.
And we'll do this in a futuristic pod-like vehicle powered by renewable electric power.
I call these vehicles: Trams.
So you'll have a "network" of these "trams" running along this "grid" of 4.5 kilometre long "streets". With 20 "streets" running north to south and 20 "streets" running east to west.
Best of all, instead of being one continuous building, in this configuration the buildings are divided up into "blocks" that can be developed as people move in!
I know it's a bold and futuristic vision.
But in this "grid" configuration, with streets, blocks, and trams, I believe the Crown Prince can deliver his vision of a city of the future.
#neom #Urbanism #UrbanPlanning #cities #TheLine #tram #trams #futurism
