A monumental infrastructure project in the heart of the Saudi Arabian desert has sparked concern among environmental researchers and zoologists.
The drastic development branded ‘The Line’ is the planned construction of a 170-kilometre-long (105-mile long) skyscraper, creating a linear zero-emission smart city with no cars or streets.
The city is part of the Saudi Vision 2030 project, first announced in 2016 and estimated to cost trillions of dollars to complete.
The Line will be located in the urban region of Neom, a 10,000-square-mile strip of land along the Red Sea coast. This region is set to host more than a dozen ultra-modern cities planned as part of the gigaproject.
The mega-city will span more than 100 miles and tower 500 metres above sea level, creating an unprecedented model of urban living for a projected nine million residents.
The futuristic city will be just 200 metres wide, and roads will not be needed in this compact space. Instead, all essential services will be strategically spaced within a five-minute walk, and a high-speed rail line will deliver end-to-end transit.
Environmental campaigners have warned that the colossal construction’s mirrored exterior will have ecological consequences, as the city will become a hidden obstacle for the region’s bird population.
An estimated three billion birds from as many as 300 different species migrate across Saudi Arabia every year, flying to warmer climates for the winter months.
Director of research for zoology at the University of Cambridge Professor William Sutherland warned: “It’s kind of like a mirror, so you don’t really see it.
“Unless they do something about it, there is a serious risk that there could be lots of damage to migratory birds.”
A research article published earlier this year in the scientific journal Trends in Ecology and Evolution described The Line as “a substantial risk to migratory species”, with the mirrored facade identified as a “novel threat” to birds migrating from Europe towards Africa.
Building collisions kill between 365 and 988 million birds annually in the United States alone and up to 42 million annually in Canada.
Developers in Saudi Arabia have yet to announce any mitigation measures to limit the development’s impact on bird populations.
However, the huge construction effort has seemingly already run into issues. The project’s timeline has been significantly extended, and focus is now placed on completing just 2.4km of the smart city by 2030.
The entire region of Neom is officially predicted to cost $500 billion to complete, but independent analysts place the true cost of the mega project at closer to $1.5 trillion (£1.15 trillion).