Jan 5, 2024

When Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman announced plans for “The Line” – a vertical urban utopia complete with air taxis and domestic robot servants – it sounded like something from a science fiction movie. But in exclusive satellite images commissioned by Soar, you can see that real-time construction is well underway.

The “Mega City”, set to house 9 million people within a narrow mirrored metropolis, has been controversial since day dot. People have speculated about everything from its eye-watering cost to the displacement of local communities.

But from our exclusive view from space, we’re wondering something else. Can the actual topography and terrain of the proposed area accommodate the outlandish design? What are these secret entrances we’ve noticed on Radar satellite imagery? And will The Line actually be built as a straight line – or are there curveballs in the plan?

Grand plans: How big is The Line, Saudi Arabia?

‍According to the project website, The Line will sprawl "across 170 kilometers, from epic mountains of NEOM across inspirational desert valleys to the beautiful Red Sea”. The “mirrored architectural masterpiece" will tower 500 meters above sea level, complete with a "high-speed rail with an end-to-end transit of 20 minutes".

Checking out the images online, we can mainly see the western parts close to the Red Sea level. Little, however, is shown of the mountainous area to the east.

Real-time snapshot: Here’s what our satellite images can tell us

When looking at the complete site map on Soar, combined with the help of available free open data Digital Elevation Model (from Copernicus DEM), it’s clear that the actual areas under excavation are located at different topographic levels. It’s also evident that those works haven’t been continuous in many parts, at least until now.

The project is presented as a single flat line. However, its easternmost tip ends at 1,300m-high mountains. View site.

Topographic profile: The full 170km extent of 'The Line Project' climbs from 0m at sea level to a maximum of almost 1,300m altitude. Will the finished project actually be a straight line? View on Soar.

Approximately one-third of the 170km line, located on the western end, consists of mainly flat terrain near sea level. Scan your eyes to the east, and you’ll see excavation efforts already underway in some rocky areas near the Main Base, which has an altitude of around 150m.

The project then halts before reaching the steepest slopes of the mountains, resuming in the central region of the 1,100m-high plateau. As of yet, there are no signs of construction on the easternmost section, where the mountain peaks hit towering heights of nearly 1,300m.

Discovering hidden details: Radar satellite images of The Line

Recently, we’ve discovered a number of tunnel entrances in construction. Pored over satellite imagery and haven’t noticed them? You don’t need your eyes checked. The entrances are cut vertically into rocks like caves, and covered from the ground above. From a top-down satellite view, they’re virtually impossible to see.

However, we’ve managed to detect them with the help of SAR satellite image (SAR - Synthetic Aperture Radar), which captures images of the Earth from oblique angles. With satellite images kindly provided by our awesome friends at Umbra, we’ve located at least nine of them spread along and near the project footprint in the area of mountains.

Browse cutting-edge satellite imagery on Soar >>

So what does this mean? Can The Line actually be built?

In terms of design, the proposed single horizontal line that is "500 meters above sea level" will certainly need to be adjusted to account for the steep topography and terrain of the region. Even if the construction runs underground in certain parts, it’s unlikely to be completely underground through the mountains on the eastern side. We arent engineers, however we anticipate it will need to climb the topography, either in the shape of steps or slopes.

This has some implications for other aspects of The Line. Remember that 20-minute high-speed rail transportation they mentioned? A rail climbing from near sea level to a 1,100m-high plateau would no doubt need a massive amount of additional energy input.

As construction continues, no doubt more details will be revealed.

Investigate for yourself on Soar, the world’s fastest-growing digital atlas >>

We detected the tunnel entrances on the Radar image on the right, taken on 29th August 2023, then located them on the color satellite map to the left.
Left: High-Res Optical Satellite, 19th January 2023
Right: High-Res Radar Satellite, 29th August 2023

The location of all the tunnel entrances detected using high resolution satellite imagery obtained on the 11th September 2023, kindly provided by CG Satellite (browse and zoom in it on our Soar Draw Map Project)

This blog was written by:

Sergio Volkmer

Sérgio is a mapping and remote sensing enthusiast, producing content for Soar. He studied geology and holds a Master of Philosophy, and is now an architect and contributor to OpenStreetMap and OpenData communities. He believes that information and knowledge are first steps towards personal fulfilment that lead to a better world.

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