Thanks to COVID-19 cities may be dying. As Fast Company puts it:
“For those of you who live in cities, ask yourself: What it is about your urban lifestyle that makes it worth it despite the pollution, the noise, and the traffic? Perhaps it’s the hundreds of unique restaurants that you like to dine at. Or the density that fosters a vibrant night life and cosmopolitan cultural scene. Maybe it’s the parks, the museums, the tall buildings, the mass transit.
What if much of that went away? Would you still want to live there?
That possibility is worrying many as the pandemic chips away at the foundations of much of what makes cities special. Restaurants, small businesses and even big brand-name retail chains are closing in record numbers. Mass transit systems, like New York City’s, are warning of severe cuts in service if they don’t get aid soon as state and local tax revenue plunges. Many have fled to rural or suburban areas. And the situation appears likely to only worsen as America endures a “dark winter” with no guarantee of more aid from Congress.”
What we need then is a new way to reimagine what cities can and should be. Thankfully the Crown Prince of Saudia Arabia has an intriguing idea. A new plan known simply as The Line.
Travel and Leisure explains:
“Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman thinks the future can be now. All it will cost is a cool $500 billion.
In early January, the crown prince unveiled his work on a new planned community in Saudi Arabia called ‘The Line.’ As the name suggests, the community will be built along a 106-mile straight line, which could one day be home to one million people. The one thing it won’t be home to is any cars, marking a significant shift in culture in one of the world’s largest oil-producing countries in an effort to better diversify its national income.
According to NDTV, The Line is part of the larger project known as ‘Neom,’ which will sit along the Red Sea. The Line will connect the various communities throughout Neom and act as its main thoroughfare where citizens can walk from one place to another. According to the prince, it will be paid for ‘by the Saudi government, PIF, and local and global investors over 10 years.’
‘Throughout history, cities were built to protect their citizens. After the industrial revolution, cities prioritized machines, cars, and factories over people,’ the crown prince said in a video announcement. ‘In cities that are viewed as the world’s most advanced, people spend years of their lives commuting. By 2050, commute durations will double. By 2050, one billion people will have to relocate due to rising CO2 emissions and sea levels. Ninety percent of people breathe polluted air.’
He added, ‘Why should we sacrifice nature for the sake of development? Why should seven million people die every year because of pollution?’
According to the prince, no walking commute along The Line will take more than two minutes. For those who need a lift, the prince added that the city will be built with ‘ultra-high-speed transit and autonomous mobility solutions.'”
How it would be impossible to have a walking commute no longer than two minutes in a city arranged in a straight line that stretches for 106 miles is beyond me. But otherwise the plan sounds good to me!
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