Saudi Arabia is said to be planning a large-scale futuristic city in the desert that will be the size of Massachusetts and feature all kinds of quirky technological wonders. According to Business Insider, “The city will be known as Neom, a portmanteau of the Greek word neos, meaning ‘new,’ and mustaqbal, the Arabic word for ‘future.’” It will be a place for the “dreamers of the world” and will be about all things “future-oriented and visionary”. Sounds like my kind of place!
But what exactly are we talking about? Futuristic cities aren’t a new idea. There are several “smart cities” wired from head to toe that already exist. Data driven places that exhibit the very best that the Internet of Things has to offer. But Neom will be much more than just your average run of the mill futuristic city. Instead, it will take what it means to be futuristic to a whole new level as it is likely to include a lot of wild ideas and concepts, some of which will sound like science fiction, others like they came from a child’s overactive imagination.
Some of these will be technologically possible in the near future while others are purely theoretical for now. But either way, Neom is likely to deliver on its promise as being the place to be for those interested in living on the cutting-edge of society. Among the technologies currently being considered are flying taxis, driverless cars, an artificial moon to illuminate the night sky, cloud seeding technology to control the weather, and holographic teachers to create a world-class education system. But of course no futuristic city would be complete without a Jurassic Park-like island populated by robotic dinosaurs!!
As the Verge puts it, “Taken together, the plans remind of you what a dedicated nine-year-old can achieve in Minecraft. Yes, the scale and ambition are impressive, but it’s not like you could do this in real life, right?”
But doing this in real life is exactly what Saudi Arabia is planning on doing even if the funding isn’t clear and the logistics murky. So much so, that they even want to push the envelope as far as humanly possible as they look to populate the futuristic city with genetically enhanced people that will have increased strength and IQ. Enhanced people that will get waited on hand and foot by robotic maids that do all of their chores for them.
As crazy as all this sounds, as unlikely as it all may be, I’m still all in on this idea. With an area the size of Massachusetts there is a lot that you can accomplish. Especially if Neom lives up to its billing as a future focused place that would attract the world’s dreamers. A place like that could do a lot to inspire the rest of the world to work harder, to dream bigger, to reach for the stars like never before. Which is exactly the kind of place that we need in a world that is likely to face a lot of tough technological challenges in the decades to come as we face down Climate Change and everything that comes along with it.
Is Neom, a futuristic city with robotic dinosaurs and an artificial moon, the Greatest Idea Ever?
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