The Line, the debate reopens in Saudi Arabia

How do we imagine the cities of the future?

If in the past the pinnacle of science fiction consisted of flying cars, glittering skyscrapers and psychedelic colored neon, today we could say that our perception of the future is much less linear and, above all, less positive.

The average man's imagination was once guided by aesthetics, but today it has to come to terms with some undeniable realities, such as climate crisis, rampant poverty and a overcrowding never seen before in the history of mankind.

For this reason, the cities of the future arise from projects which, mainly, have the objective of accommodate as many people as possible in the least available space and, above all, with the minor environmental impact.

From these perspectives the much talked about project is outlined The Line a vertical and “linear” city which will rise up over 170 kilometers in length in the province of tabooin Saudi Arabia: a mammoth construction that promises a lifetime of nature, wealth and well-being along the desert coasts of the Red Sea, pursuing the ideals of sustainability, accessibility and functionality at all costs.

The expected inhabitants are eight million, distributed over the various floors of the structure and thus also architecturally dissected in more affluent and more neglected areas, and many others are the workers hired for the effective creation of the building: The Line thus it seems to become a perfect synthesis of the human condition today crammed and segmented by income and identity and at the same time exploited for the great projects of CEOs, companies with international influence and politicians so distant from reality that they have forgotten its dynamics and conditions.

The debate opens again, and this time it is human beings who are at the center: is it right to pursue alternative cities that are increasingly distant from our natural organization of spaces? Does saving humanity mean forcing it into a line of glass and high tech? 

There are no answers yet, and the great realization of The Line it doesn't seem willing to stop.