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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
World
Steven White

Saudi Arabia's megacity with flying cars, robot maids, dinosaurs and fake moon

It sounds like something plucked right out of a sci-fi novel but proposed plans for a giant city in the Arabian desert include flying cars and robot maids.

The project, called The Line in Saudi Arabia is the idea of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and forms part of a wider development project called Neom.

The oil-rich sovereign state wants to build an incredible megacity 105-miles long that is enclosed between two vertical, glass mirrored skyscrapers that are just 200 metres apart.

However, the various claims over the futuristic capabilities of the $1trillion city have been met with some scepticism.

The stunning CGI images released of the city make it look like something made up of science fiction (NEOM/AFP via Getty Images)

Leaked documents published by the Wall Street Journal noted far-fetched notions in bin Salman's plans and using some technology that does not even exist yet.

Highlights include robot maids to clean homes, which sound ideal while residents are out either visiting a Jurassic Park -style island of robot reptiles or watching robot cage fighting.

The 105-mile long city will stretch from the western Arabian desert out into the Red Sea (NEOM/AFP via Getty Images)

Other ambitions include beaches complete with glow-in-the-dark sand as well as a giant artificial moon to light up each night, plus there are reports that alcohol could be allowed in a country that otherwise bans it.

One proposal for the moon includes live-streaming images from outer space on it, while "cloud seeding" could modify the weather and make it rain to help cool down the baking desert conditions.

Lush and tropical vegetation seems a key features of the hi-tech city (NEOM/AFP via Getty Images)

Perhaps the most outlandish idea is the flying taxis that will ferry its proposed nine million inhabitants around - just like fantasy scenes from Blade Runner and the Star Wars films.

The Line is set to have no roads, cars and emissions and will run entirely on renewable energy and water supplies with sprawling tropical trees and vegetation all around.

The vertical skyscrapers will be clad in mirror and 500 metres high - taller than the Empire State Building (NEOM/AFP via Getty Images)

Saudi officials said it will be the "most liveable city by far" when it is due to be finished in 2030 and have 1.5 million people living in it by then, although engineers said it is more likely to be completed in 2050.

The 500-metre high utopian city will take just 20 minutes to travel by train end to end and "all the daily needs" of every inhabitant will be a five-minute walk away.

The Line is full of futuristic-looking buildings and will even have an artificial river flowing through it (NEOM/AFP via Getty Images)

Big Brother -type artificial intelligence will also be central to life there where computers can notify crimes without the need to report them and all residents can be tracked.

Bin Salman said he wants Saudi Arabia to be the home of a construction project as iconic and timeless as the Pyramids of Egypt and is part of a plan to help diversify the country's economy away from its abundance of oil.

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