Children used to draw cities filled with buildings, trees, and cars. Today, they can draw a single straight line - and that might be a more accurate vision of the future.
The Line is less an urban planning project and more a civilisational experiment.
170 kilometres long. 200 metres wide. No cars. No emissions. Entirely managed by artificial intelligence and digital twins that analyse real-time data and control everything – from transportation and energy consumption to access to food from vertical farms.
Instead of streets – ultra-modern railways. Instead of shopping malls - data that knows what you need before you even type it into a search engine. And instead of air conditioning – a microclimate shaped by mirrors reflecting the desert sun.
When we look beyond the engineering brilliance of The Line, much deeper questions arise around the nature and intent of future “cities.” Can full automation coexist with human emotional needs? Will a digital order erase the analogue chaos that is part and parcel of life?
The project clearly shows that the future of cities won’t just be a matter of technological advancement – it will depend on the choices we make in our relationship with it. Will we be able to harness technological tools to craft spaces which serve both efficiency and humanity?
The answer to this question will be the true definer of the experiment’s success.
