Opinion Article – By: Celine Park – The Myriad News
Editor-in-Chief Celine Park describes the facets of NEOM, Saudi Arabia’s mega-city that could change how our society views cities, modern development and geopolitics in the Middle East region.
Saudi Arabia’s new mega-city pioneers global development
Saudi Arabia is in the works of creating the world’s largest and most innovative mega-city, NEOM. The creation of Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Muhammad bin-Salman, NEOM positions itself as “an accelerator of human progress”, and could possibly change the geo-economical and political landscape of the Middle East as a whole.
The name NEOM comes from the Greek prefix “neo”, which means new, and the Arabic word mustaqbal (مستقبل), which means future. So, the city clearly aims to spearhead the new future of modern development.
NEOM started construction in 2017 in the vast 26-thousand square kilometer, northwestern corner of Saudi Arabia. So far, the city’s airport is complete. It will be built completely from scratch, and when finished, the city will be 33 times the size of New York.
This 500-billion dollar enterprise is part of the country’s Saudi Vision 2030 program, which has three main goals: creating a vibrant society, a thriving economy and an ambitious nation.
Although Saudi Arabia is one of the richest countries in the world, it is still extremely dependent on oil, thus subject to the resource curse. Just because a country is rich does not mean that it has a developed economy, and in a post-oil era, Saudi Arabia’s wealth will soon run low if economic reforms aren’t made. Thus, NEOM will diversify the country’s economy via its nine investment sectors: energy and water, mobility, biotech, food, technological digital services, advanced manufacturing, media, entertainment and livability.
Flying cars, robots and an artificial moon will be the city’s norm
NEOM’s selling point is its futuristic characteristics. Autonomous vehicles will overtake public transportation. Renewable sources such as solar and wind energy will power the city, and cloud-seeding will be used to increase rainfall. American company Air Products & Chemicals will also build the world’s largest green hydrogen power plant, which will produce up to 650 tons of green hydrogen a day. Ideally, NEOM will be a carbon-free ecosystem that encourages neighboring countries to also go green.
The project also intends to focus on citizens’ health and well-being. In a video released on NEOM’s official website, Managing Director of Health and Wellbeing Melvin Samson stated every house built in the city will be equipped with “wearable devices” that tracks physical activity and will have access to lifestyle, physical and mental health coaches.
Additionally, NEOM promises to have free high speed internet (or what the city’s constructors call “digital air”), free online education taught by holographic teachers and a design layout that encourages walking and cycling. Mundane tasks will be administered by disruptive technology such as robots—in fact, so many that there will be more robots than actual human beings in the city. More frivolous features supposedly include flying cars, glow-in-the-dark beaches, an artificial moon and rows of Michelin-star restaurants.
NEOM will be funded by private investors and the Saudi treasury
To reiterate, NEOM will cost around 500 billion dollars, a hefty sum. According to bin-Salman, Saudi Arabia will allocate funds while also deviating from oil-dependency, Saudi Arabia will sell part of its multinational oil company, Saudi Aramco. It will also fill up its treasury, the Saudi Arabia Sovereign Wealth Fund.
While many of NEOM’s features seem practically impossible, the current blueprint is attracting many big investors such as Russian company Summa Group and Japanese company SoftBank, the latter planning to invest up to 25 billion dollars to have a stake in the electric company responsible for providing NEOM its renewable energy.
Saudi Arabia will have to adopt social change for NEOM to succeed
NEOM will connect Africa, Asia and Europe together in an effort to be the world’s leading hub for trade, travel and business—10 percent of world’s trade passes by the Suez Canal and the Bab-el-Mandeb, making this objective very possible.
Saudi Arabia will make the city its own special economic zone, meaning it will have its own laws, taxes and regulations. NEOM will try to emulate cities such as Dubai and Singapore, which also have their own special economic zones.
Although Saudi Arabia is a wealthy country, it is one of the most undemocratic countries in the world, scoring a -10 on the Polity IV democracy scale. However, in NEOM’s first publicity video, the city depicts women running in sports bras—without their hijabs—and are seen participating in activities outside. Women actively participating in society would be a huge step towards a more democratic Saudi Arabia, which before 2017 did not even allow women the right to drive.
Additionally, NEOM is recruiting start-up businesses and business leaders from all over the world to establish themselves in the city’s special economic zone. On their official website, the company states these “NEOMians” will be supported “by a progressive legal system compatible with international norms and conducive to economic growth,” and will make up a community with “a mix of homelands, religions and backgrounds – all living and collaborating toward a common goal.”
This statement regarding a diverse community is extremely prevalent when taking into account Saudi Arabia’s strict enforcement of Sunni Islam within its borders. Bin-Salman himself, too, said in 2017 he will revert the conservative country to a “moderate Islam”. Although, three years have passed, and the very clerics advocating for moderate Islam are being sent to prison.
Nonetheless, if economic development and democracy are truly interconnected, then for NEOM to thrive, Saudi Arabia cannot avoid social change, even outside the city grounds.
Saudi Arabia will have to recognize Israel as a sovereign state
NEOM will be located by the entrance of the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aqaba. This connects Saudi Arabia to neighbors Egypt and Jordan across the Straits of Tiran, which is between the Sinai and Arabian Peninsulas.
Saudi Arabia will construct a 10 kilometer long bridge and causeway between Egypt and Jordan. However, Israel too holds an important stake in the NEOM enterprise.
The 1979 Peace Treaty between Israel and Egypt recognized Israeli access to the Red Sea; if Saudi Arabia chooses to ignore this during when NEOM’s construction is complete, then the country would be violating international law under the United Nations Convention On the Law of the Sea.
Even if Saudi Arabia does violate international law, Israel will not back down, as the country has continuously had a hard-line stance regarding its access to the Red Sea and the Straits of Tiran. In fact, one of the very causes of the Six Day War between Israel and Egypt was the latter’s closure of the straits to Israeli shipping in 1967. Thus, Saudi Arabia cannot simply just ignore Israel in its future vision of NEOM. Cooperation—in the form of Saudi Arabia’s formal recognition of Israel—must occur for NEOM to be successful.
NEOM seems unrealistic, while at the expense of the Huwaiti tribe
As futuristic and extravagant as NEOM appears to be, many believe this mega-project is too good to be true. There is no guarantee that any of NEOM’s disruptive technologies and innovative features will actually work.
Judging from Saudi Arabia’s past mega-city plans, like King Abdullah City, the construction time could take longer than just five more years. As reference, King Abdullah City had a budget of 100 billion dollars, and it started construction in 2005, and was set to be completed by 2010. Construction of the city is still ongoing ten years after its scheduled date of completion.
This year, Saudi Arabia received scrutiny for evicting the Huwaiti tribe from their home in order to make room for NEOM. In April, a Huwaiti tribesman protesting the eviction was killed by the Saudi Special Forces, who labeled him as a “wanted individual”.
NEOM’s completion would displace at least 20.000 Huwaitis, who lived in Saudi Arabia’s northwestern province of Tabuk for centuries. The National Program of Community Development did promise to provide temporary housing and compensation, but these claims are extremely vague and unlikely.
While NEOM most definitely seems to be a pioneering force in city development, and can alter relations between Israel and its Arab neighbors, there is a clear hypocrisy in NEOM’s brand as the “new future” and its unwillingness to truly enforce democratic, social change. Although NEOM’s special economic zone allows for a diverse economy and social reform within the city, speculation still remains on whether Saudi Arabia can truly develop its economy, and therefore its inclination for a more democratic governmental system.