Saudi Arabia officially introduced the utopian city NEOM, which will be built in the desert in the northwest of the country, the day before yesterday. The "city of the future," consisting of 10 regions and located opposite Egypt's Sharm El-Sheikh city, will open in 2040. According to an interview given by Giles Penderton, the CEO of the NEOM Project, to The National, a UAE newspaper, the city, which is claimed to cost trillions of dollars, will be home to nine million people by 2045. NEOM, which will be the world's first and only "zero-carbon" city, will have everything from artificial lakes, artificial seas, beaches, flying taxis, robot waiters to ski resorts. Hold on tight, there will even be an "artificial moon" in NEOM.
NEOM's management will also feature artificial intelligence. Allegedly, everyone living in the city will have their information collected in a data center, which the city's administration can use to offer suggestions for services to residents according to their needs and lifestyle. For example, ski enthusiasts will receive information about the latest developments at the ski center, while those who want to eat against a 24/7 ready artificial snowfall will be offered restaurant opportunities. One of the regions to be established on the Red Sea coast will be called "The Line."
NEOM is the biggest dream of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who has changed many rules, particularly for women to participate in social life, as part of his country's modernization efforts. Marwa Fatafta from the German digital rights NGO Access Now describes NEOM as "a big ticket for someone who sanctifies himself as the Saudi leader who modernizes the country and brings it into a new technological age." James Shires from the London-based think tank Chatham House describes the Crown Prince's passion as follows: "He dreams of a city where various services, from garbage collection to health and train schedules, are regulated by data from sources such as smartphones and surveillance technology. NEOM was designed to take the [other smart cities] a step further by starting from scratch in a completely designed style to collect data and use it for the purposes of the city."
NEOM's mind comes from China! After lifting COVID-19 restrictions, China's leader Xi Jinping visited Riyadh and met with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, which sparked a lot of discussions. After that meeting, NEOM emerged. According to Western media, China, which has established "smart cities" in Egypt and Serbia, will support NEOM's surveillance technology infrastructure. China's surveillance system will be used for the city's security. Annelle Sheline from the Quincy Institute in Washington says, "We haven't seen the same level of physical surveillance that we've seen in China yet in Saudi Arabia, but China is working with Saudis and other Gulf countries to start implementing it." One of the technologies China has already sold is a "social credit system."