SAUDI ARABIA Neom, the futuristic Saudi city, will have nine million inhabitants

Mohammed bin Salman presented the design of the metropolis that the Saudis are building from scratch on the Red Sea. A line of buildings with mirrors 170 kilometers long and 200 meters wide, to eliminate cars and emissions. Meanwhile, the prince returns to Europe for the first time since Khashoggi’s murder.

Riyadh ( / Agencies) – Nine million inhabitants in an area of ​​just 34 square kilometers. All in a city without cars, roads or emissions, built as an immense line 170 kilometers long and barely 200 meters wide, stretching from the mountains of Saudi Arabia to the shores of the Red Sea. A place built from scratch in the desert where everything will have to be environmentally sustainable and accessible on foot in five minutes, but also with the possibility of traveling from one end to the other in 20 minutes, taking a high-speed train .

In the current uncertain economic scenario, Saudi Prince Mohamed bin Salman (MbS) relaunched Neom in a big way, the futuristic city that is being built in the north of Saudi Arabia. A large part of “Vision 2030” is at stake in this project, the program to modernize the country in open competition with the Gulf metropolises to attract foreign investment. It is no coincidence that – aside from the usual array of futuristic sketches and promises of sustainable developments – the most interesting tidbit in Mohammed bin Salman’s new presentation is the announcement that this $500 million project, which in its initial phase had only financed until now by the Sovereign Fund of Saudi Arabia, is preparing to go public. It is scheduled to list in 2024 and the stated ambition is to use it as an engine to turn the Saudi market into one of the top three global financial centers.

The first stage of Neom will finish construction in 2026. According to the Saudi prince, it should have between 1.5 and 2 million inhabitants in 2030, and reach 9 million in 2045 (“more than Abu Dhabi”, he insisted on pointing out) .

Meanwhile -after the recent visit of the president of the United States, Joe Biden, to Saudi Arabia- at this time Mohamed bin Salman is making his first trip to Europe since the accusations about his involvement in the murder of the Saudi dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi, which occurred in 2018 in Istanbul. He today met in Athens with the Greek Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, with whom he has signed agreements on defense, Saudi investment and scientific cooperation. Following his first stopover in Greece, he awaits MbS’s arrival in Paris, where he will meet French President Emmanuel Macron. One of the central themes of the meeting will be the request for an increase in oil production to compensate for the blockade of Russian exports linked to the war in Ukraine.