The news. Recent data on the construction of The Line, a linear smart city, has just been released. This information highlights the enormous challenge of transforming a vast expanse of inhospitable desert into an urban area reminiscent of a science fiction novel. Notably, it consumes one-fifth of the world’s steel.

The Line is arguably the most crucial element of Saudi Arabia’s Neom project. It’s part of a larger initiative to shift the country’s predominantly oil-based economy towards one focused on luxury tourism, especially as fossil fuel consumption presumably declines in the coming years.