Linear City

• To prepare for a post-oil future, Saudi Arabia is building a linear city to diversify its economy, and to attract investments and visitors.
• Named The Line, it located at the climatically moderate north of the country and it is envisaged as a straight linear city of 170 km (105 mi) in length, which will be car-less and zero carbon.
• This is a re-imagination of the standard urban sprawl which expands amoeba-like from a centre.
• Literature that we have come across thus far does not explain why the geometry of a line is picked versus, say, a circle.
• We hazard to guess a line can be extended, does not sprawl, does not enclose a large space like a circle, every part is close to nature (the sides of the line) and it needs only one straight transportation and infra system (versus circle and radial lines of a standard city).
• It can also be visioned as a spine or computer bus to which modules (like suburbs or commercial districts) can be plugged in.
• Construction starts this year, to complete 2030 and beyond. Video