Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
World
Rachel Hagan

Saudi Arabia unveils futuristic £1trillion skyscraper to stretch 75 miles along desert

Secret plans to build two parallel, mirrored buildings that are nearly 500 metres tall and 75 miles wide in Saudi Arabia have been revealed.

The $1 trillion skyscrapers will be made of mirrored glass that will stretch across its desert and stand taller than the Empire State Building.

The Wall Street Journal unveiled confidential planning documents that laid out details for the "Mirror Line," which will become the world's tallest building if successfully constructed.

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman plans to construct a zero-carbon city in a 170km line and the building will become the epicentre of the new desert city called the Neom - which will be around the size of Massachusetts.

Prince bin Salman said he wanted his country to house a construction project as iconic and timeless as the Pyramids of Egypt.

The two buildings will be connected via walkways, and a high-speed train will run underneath them.

The eight-sided buildings will run from the Gulf of Aqaba through to a mountain resort, all with a suspended sports complex, a marina to moor yachts and a complex that will house the Saudi government, according to the confidential plans.

Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev is welcomed by Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

The project will also house five million people, who will be able to travel end-to-end within a 20-minute stretch.

The Prince has claimed he wants the Mirror Line to be ready by 2030, but engineers have said it could take 50 years to construct.

Salman hopes to create thousands of new jobs and let the oil-rich country stop being so dependent on the resource for wealth, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The Mirror Line will be a part of the desert city called the Neom (The Mirror Line will be a part of the desert city called the Neom)

The project is being built in the Tabuk province of northwestern Saudi Arabia, where the Al-Howeitat tribe have lived for centuries.

Alya al-Huwaiti, a UK-based activist and dissident member of the Al-Howeitat tribe told Middle East Eye: "“He [Salman] will do anything to pretend he’s turning Saudi Arabia into a civilised country.

"But it’s not true, because [a civilised country] wouldn’t have all these prisoners, and kill people or force them to be displaced.”

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.