Crossing the Line

FINALIST of Re-Draw.07: The Line

+ FINALIST

Re-Draw.07: The Line

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Crossing the Line

Team

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The Line is depicted as a futuristic paradise and it, along with the rest of the Saudi Vision 2030 project, is environmentally neutral, technologically innovative, and humanitarian in urban planning. However, the truth is the project is poorly developed, is founded on false promises, and has already led to detrimental losses of human life. This includes, over the course of eight years, the deaths of thousands of construction workers. The land NEOM is being built on has been secured by the forced displacement of native Huwaitat villages across the site, and, environmentally, the project is estimated to have a carbon footprint close to 1.8 gigatons by external experts. If the project is finished, we foresee a dystopian city that reinforces and expands existing inequalities within the population. Those on the topmost level will have plenty of access to light, air, and greenery- the image sold to us through existing renders of the project. In contrast, the poorest class, those who were displaced or risked their lives in the construction of the city will be living at the bottom, packed into tight, sunless quarters. The final city will be a fantasy built on human suffering.

Jury Comments

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