Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Monday said The Line, in the kingdom’s $500 billion giga-project Neom, will "embody how urban communities will be in the future".
Prince Mohammed announced the designs of The Line, which "puts human first, providing an unprecedented urban" living experience while preserving nature.
The Line is 200 metres wide, 170 kilometres long, 500 metres above sea level and will be built on 34 square kilometres.
“The idea of layering city functions vertically, giving people possibility of moving seamlessly in three dimensions to access them, is a concept referred to as Zero Gravity Urbanism,” Prince Mohammed said.
The new concept layers public parks and pedestrian areas, including schools, homes and offices, so people can travel to any place within five minutes, in addition to a high-speed rail with an 'end-to-end transit' of 20 minutes.
“At The Line’s launch last year, we committed to a civilisational revolution that puts humans first, based on a radical change in urban planning," Prime Mohammed said on Monday.
"The designs revealed today for the city's vertically layered communities will challenge the traditional flat, horizontal cities and create a model for nature preservation and enhanced human liveability."
The Line will eventually be home to nine million residents, who will live in interconnected societies with artificial intelligence designed to coexist with nature.
"The Line will tackle the challenges facing humanity in urban life today and will shine a light on alternative ways to live,” Prince Mohammed said.
“At Neom, we strive to be at the forefront of providing new and innovative solutions, and today we are determined to implement the idea of ‘Building to the Top’ through a team led by Neom and a group of the brightest minds,” he said.
The Line was launched in January last year and aims to redefine the concept of urban development and "what cities of the future" would look like.
During the launch, the Crown Prince said that by 2050, commuting times will double and a billion people will have to relocate because of rising carbon dioxide emissions and sea levels.
"Why should we sacrifice nature for the sake of development?" Prince Mohammed asked. "Why should seven million people die every year because of pollution?
"Why should we lose one million people every year to traffic accidents? And why should we accept wasting years of our lives commuting?"
The designs of The Line reveal that the city will be free of cars, roads and emissions.
It will run completely on renewable energy, giving priority to human health and nature, while construction aims to preserve 95 per cent of Neom’s land.
This reduces the amount of land taken up by infrastructure and will help to create "never before seen efficiencies" in city functions.
Its ideal climate all year round will ensure that residents can enjoy surrounding nature.
Prince Mohammed said people could not ignore the liveability and environmental crises facing the world’s cities.
He said Neom was at the "forefront of delivering new and imaginative solutions" to address these problems.
Neom will be a place for all people from around the globe to make their mark on the world in creative and innovative ways, Prince Mohammed said.
He said Neom remained one of the most important projects in the Saudi Vision 2030, and "our commitment to delivering The Line on behalf of the nation remains resolute".
The Line will have an outer mirror façade created by a team of world-renowned architects and engineers, which will allow even its footprint to "blend with nature, and extraordinary experiences and magical moments".
The announcement of The Line's designs is a continuation of Neom’s progress in its flagship projects, the Saudi Press Agency reported.
They include Oxagon, its reimagined manufacturing and innovation city; and Trojena, its global mountain tourism destination that will offer the Arabian Gulf’s first outdoor skiing, it said.
There is also the launch of two of Neom’s subsidiaries: Enowa, its energy, water and hydrogen company; and the Neom Tech and Digital Company, SPA said.
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Milestones on the road to union
1970
October 26: Bahrain withdraws from a proposal to create a federation of nine with the seven Trucial States and Qatar.
December: Ahmed Al Suwaidi visits New York to discuss potential UN membership.
1971
March 1: Alex Douglas Hume, Conservative foreign secretary confirms that Britain will leave the Gulf and “strongly supports” the creation of a Union of Arab Emirates.
July 12: Historic meeting at which Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid make a binding agreement to create what will become the UAE.
July 18: It is announced that the UAE will be formed from six emirates, with a proposed constitution signed. RAK is not yet part of the agreement.
August 6: The fifth anniversary of Sheikh Zayed becoming Ruler of Abu Dhabi, with official celebrations deferred until later in the year.
August 15: Bahrain becomes independent.
September 3: Qatar becomes independent.
November 23-25: Meeting with Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid and senior British officials to fix December 2 as date of creation of the UAE.
November 29: At 5.30pm Iranian forces seize the Greater and Lesser Tunbs by force.
November 30: Despite a power sharing agreement, Tehran takes full control of Abu Musa.
November 31: UK officials visit all six participating Emirates to formally end the Trucial States treaties
December 2: 11am, Dubai. New Supreme Council formally elects Sheikh Zayed as President. Treaty of Friendship signed with the UK. 11.30am. Flag raising ceremony at Union House and Al Manhal Palace in Abu Dhabi witnessed by Sheikh Khalifa, then Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi.
December 6: Arab League formally admits the UAE. The first British Ambassador presents his credentials to Sheikh Zayed.
December 9: UAE joins the United Nations.
WHAT%20ARE%20THE%20PRODUCTS%20WITHIN%20THE%20THREE%20MAJOR%20CATEGORIES%3F
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The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cylturbo
Transmission: seven-speed DSG automatic
Power: 242bhp
Torque: 370Nm
Price: Dh136,814
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
