Saudi Arabia’s insane £830billion megacity ‘needs tech that doesn’t even exist’

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An £830billion building project launched just three weeks ago is already under threat, after it emerged that the technology needed to build it doesn't actually exist.

The Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia announced plans to build an whopping 75-mile long and 500-metres high skyscraper, which he claims will be better than the Pyramids and will be called The Line.

And according to the Wall Street Journal, the $1 trillion (£830bn) project will feature a floating port city, a commuter swimming lane, an artificial ski resort, and AI-powered robots to serve its residents.

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The project, dubbed The Mirror Line, wouldn't look out of place in the ill-fated video game Cyberpunk 2077, with giant mirror-covered glass structures and impossible-looking geometry.

It also looks a little bit like a stationary version of Netflix's Snowpiercer, as it will be split into three "community" sections.

He said at the time that it could be ready by 2030, if construction goes according to plan, although that now seems highly unlikely after it emerged machines needed to create the cracking building don't actually exist.

Stephen Wheeler, a landscape architect and environmental design professor at the University of California, said: “Usually, they don't quite turn out the way the original visionaries intend, they often fall prey to economic conditions or other people's ideas of what should happen, or they wind up costing vastly more than expected.”

And the experts at Live Science explained why the technology to create the hyper-loop-style transit unit inside the beastly building doesn't actually exist.

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They said: “It is unclear if the technology for The Line's transit system exists yet.

“Travelling 106 miles in 20 minutes would require a speed of 318 mph (512 km/h), which outpaces high-speed rail by a long shot.

“Eurostar trains in Europe travel at about 199 mph (320 km/h); and while some of China's high-speed rail trains reach speeds of 236 mph (380 km/h), in practice, they average about the same speeds as Eurostar.

“Underground Hyperloop pods, like those in development by Virgin and SpaceX, could theoretically manage the journey, but that technology is still at least a decade away from use.

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“The fastest Hyperloop tests so far have topped out at 288 mph (463 km/h) without passengers. Only one company, Virgin, has tested the technology with passengers, at speeds of 107 mph (172 km/h).”

The Mirror Line will be part of a huge desert city complex and span across a mountain range. It will feature 1,600 foot-tall buildings that run in parallel to one another on either side of an artificial river.

Engineers have said it could take 50 years to construct as it will feature an intricate interior filled with plants, forests, trains, a vertical farm, and even a boat marina powered entirely by renewable energy.

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Residents will be encouraged to pay a subscription to get three meals per day.

If it ever gets built, the Mirror Line will house five million people and feature a sports stadium on stilts.

Critics have said it will be so tall that it will stop birds and animals migrating because the mirrored walls could confuse them.

However, Saudi Arabia being Saudi Arabia, money is no object – so the project and the tech to build it might actually all get made at the same time.

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