Sun, Sea and Robots: Saudi Arabia’s Sci-Fi City in the Desert

Despite allowing women to drive earlier this month, Saudi Arabia remains one of the most socially backward countries on Earth. Women are systematically locked out of any serious roles within their society, while others who don't fit in with the Kingdom's ultra-conservative worldview (homosexuals, atheists, liberals, etc.) are persecuted and faced with cruel, medieval punishments.

All of this would make it one of the least likely candidates in the world to build a 'model city' for the future. But nonetheless, this is exactly what Saudi Arabia's rulers plan to do.

Following a model used successfully by both China and the UAE, the country plans to designate an area of the country where its traditional laws do not apply. In this new 'free zone' on the shores of the Red Sea, they plan to invest half a trillion dollars of oil wealth into creating 'NEOM' – a futuristic city populated by an international workforce assisted by an even greater number of robots.

This Bloomberg report takes us into the details of the project, looking at its almost insane level of optimism and contrasting this with the stagnating Saudi state. Past grand projects have failed and the country's oil wealth is - literally - burning up. The Kingdom desperately needs to change its image, and fundamentally change its economy before its oil wealth becomes fundamentally worthless in a renewable energy future.

Of course, this all begs the question, if the leaders of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia know that the best way to save their country is through openness, relaxed laws, and embracing the future, why won't they afford the same rights to all of their citizens? This is the contradiction at the heart of NEOM and why it may very well be doomed to failure like some many other megaprojects attempted in the region.