RedHanded: ShortHand – ‘The Line’ Saudi Arabia’s Futuristic Megacity

Episode Date: January 6, 2026

Overview

In this ShortHand episode, the RedHanded hosts dive deep into “The Line,” Saudi Arabia’s ambitious, dystopian-sounding plan for a 100-mile-long, futuristic megacity in the desert. With trademark irreverence, skepticism, and gallows humor, they break down the history, the vision, the controversies, and the reality behind the project, tying together the threads of utopian ambition, human rights abuses, environmental concerns, and vanity projects gone awry.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. What is The Line and NEOM?

• Direct Naming and Scope:
  • "The crown prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud, calls his master plan the Line." [00:44]
  • “It's a proposed 500 meter high megacity that will stretch 100 miles through the Saudi Arabian desert... promises a car free, carbon free utopian existence... 9 million residents... robot maids... gigantic fake moon.” [02:52]
• The Line is the centerpiece of NEOM, a $500 billion part of “Vision 2030” aimed at diversifying the Saudi economy away from oil.
• NEOM includes several mega-projects: Oxagon (floating city), Trojena (ski resort), Sindalah and Magna (luxury resorts), and The Line.

2. Saudi Arabia’s Transformation & The Man Behind It

• Saudi Arabia’s rapid transformation from a poor, tribal society to an oil-rich superpower began after oil discoveries in the 1930s.
  • “By 1930... Riyadh... just a few thousand people living in mud brick houses. And outside, that was just miles and miles of dry, empty desert...” [04:23]
• Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman ("MBS") is the driving force behind these projects. Keen to modernize the country’s image, he's paradoxically presided over increased repression.
  • “In fact, human rights groups agree that despite MBS's shiny PR campaign, things have actually got worse under his reign.” [10:59]
• Saudi’s Global Freedom Index: 7/100. “To this day, Saudi Arabia has never, not once, not never elected a single official.” [10:14]

3. Human Rights Concerns

• Saudi’s abysmal human rights record: dissent is criminalized, women’s freedoms restricted, executions rising, migrants treated terribly.
• “All sexual activity outside of marriage is illegal and women must have a male legal guardian approve everything, including who they marry.” [10:47]
• Reference to the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, with a suggestion to listen to a prior episode for more [11:39]:
  • “Within minutes, he was killed and dismembered with a bone sore. And the CIA believes that MBS was directly involved and gave the order.” [11:39]

4. The Glossy Utopia & Dystopian Doubts

• The Line is pitched as hyper-modern, sustainable, and equitable.
  • “A hyperspeed subterranean train… No roads, no cars, zero carbon emissions, and the entire thing will be fueled by wind and solar power... the most sustainable, livable and equitable society in human history.” [20:55]
• But the hosts repeatedly express skepticism—about logistics, desirability, and, chiefly, the contradiction between utopian branding and dystopian reality.
  • Memorable moment: “I think the word utopia should scare everybody... it’s about a warning to be scared of people who promise utopia. Because that's when shit gets fucked up.” [21:35 — paraphrasing Margaret Atwood]

5. Evictions and Violence in the Name of Progress

• The land for NEOM and The Line was not a true “blank canvas”—large-scale evictions of the Huwaitat tribe, with deadly force and no compensation.
  • “20,000 members of the Huaytat tribe have been forcibly removed without any adequate compensation... 63 entire neighborhoods had been completely reduced to dust... One Huaytat man refused to be evicted... he was shot and killed by authorities.” [22:42]
  • “A former Saudi colonel... told the BBC he was ordered to use lethal force on anyone who didn't move.” [23:15]
• Some architects and designers withdrew, but replacements jumped in.

6. Environmental Concerns & Greenwashing

• Sustainability claims are largely PR—real environmental costs are immense.
  • “How do you rewild a desert?” [24:41]
  • “Estimates say that upwards of 8.1 billion tons of embodied carbon dioxide will be produced in the build and that's more than four years of the total UK carbon emissions.” [25:36]
• “Greenwashing is second nature to the House of Saud.” [24:48]

7. Practicality & Plausibility

• Residents’ satisfaction depends on how spaces are managed, not just how they look.
  • “The chances of 9 million people surrendering their lives to this Saudi megaproject is slim. And that's before you get to the question of what everyone would do. At the moment, the only industry is, well, building the line.” [26:38]
• “Bloomberg journalist Vivian Nerum... says that a significant portion of the ideas are quite literally taken from science fiction books, from films and tv.” [27:18]
• Saudi is riddled with failed, abandoned megaprojects—King Abdullah Economic City is cited as an expensive ghost town. The Line’s own plans have been dramatically downscaled.
  • “More than US$50 billion have been spent so far, but its plans have been scaled back by 98%. And it's now aiming for a first phase covering just 1.5 miles to be ready for 2030.” [28:08]
  • “Of the 1.5 million people it wanted to house by 2030, the line now hopes... for about 300,000... Today, just 2,800 people live and work there—and every single one of them are staff.” [28:33]

8. Vanity, Power & Ozymandias

• The hosts suggest The Line and NEOM are more about MBS’s ego than real urban planning.
  • “Projections now estimate that Neom's plans would cost over US$9 trillion to complete. That's 25 times Saudi Arabia's current GDP.” [29:41]
  • “Even with the best will in the world, the projected timelines over the next hundred years assume total control... with funding drying up every time investors realize who they're dealing with, it's not looking good.” [29:53]
• “In Percy Shelley's poem Ozymandias... a cracked pedestal below reads: My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings. Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair. One of my favorite lines of all time.” [31:26]

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• "It promises a car free, carbon free utopian existence imagined from scratch, where everything its residents need is less than five minutes away... robot maids and bask in the glow of its gigantic fake moon.” – B [02:52]
• “Saudi Arabia has a total score of 7 out of 100” – B [07:20]
• “It's not about religion, it's not about men, it's about a warning to be scared of people who promise utopia. Because that's when shit gets fucked up." – A, paraphrasing Margaret Atwood [21:35]
• "Quite a lot of people already lived on that land. That, he said, was a blank canvas. The Huwaitat... 20,000 forcibly removed... 63 neighborhoods reduced to dust... one man shot and killed by authorities." – A [22:42]
• "Estimates say that upwards of 8.1 billion tons of embodied carbon dioxide will be produced in the build and that's more than four years of the total UK carbon emissions." – B [25:53]
• “There are several reasons why we're 100% certain that it won't happen. Firstly, there's the question of who would actually want to live in a tiny cube city in the middle of the desert.” – A [25:53]
• “More than US$50 billion have been spent so far, but its plans have been scaled back by 98%. And it's now aiming for a first phase covering just 1.5 miles to be ready for 2030.” – B [28:08]
• "In Percy Shelley's poem Ozymandias... My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings. Look on my works, ye mighty and despair. One of my favorite lines of all time." – B [31:26]

Timestamps for Significant Segments

• Origins & Introduction to The Line: [00:44] – [03:24]
• Saudi’s Oil Wealth & MBS’s Vision: [04:23] – [07:48]
• Human Rights & Dissent: [10:14] – [12:15]
• NEOM Components & Utopian Claims: [13:10] – [15:15]
• Evictions & Land Controversy: [22:09] – [23:58]
• Greenwashing & Environmental Impact: [24:07] – [25:53]
• Why It’s Unlikely to Happen: [25:53] – [28:21]
• Vanity Projects & Ozymandias: [29:38] – [31:41]

Tone & Final Reflections

With dry British humor and a knack for deflating ridiculous grandiosity, the hosts paint The Line as a surreal intersection of dystopian sci-fi, autocratic ambition, and capitalist hubris—peppered with real-world tragedy and classic poetry. The episode is a rich tapestry of skepticism, dark comedy, and sharp critical insight—a must-listen for anyone curious about megalomaniacal urban planning and the (not so) brave new world of the Middle East.

“Happy New Year.” – [31:41]