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End of the Line? Saudi Arabia to scale back plans for desert megacity

theguardian.com

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Re: End of the Line? Saudi Arabia to scale back plans for desert megacity

#161

Post by zaphirplane »

int_19h wrote: post #151
zaphirplane wrote: post #119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Clearly you dislike gulf countries. The points raised are a mixture of facts, fiction, jealousy and dislike. You want them to boil in desert heat with some environmental appeal, while many countries pump the air full of pollution from factories or massive ICE cars I haven’t heard of back alley executions over there I don’t feel hate towards someone spending their money on 2 cars or a holiday house or whatever luxury…

In Saudi Arabia specifically, atheism is a capital crime. I think it's pretty sensible for atheists to hate a country that literally wants to kill them; do you find that strange?

Straw man argument. I was refuting the back alley execution if that’s what you are getting at

Re: End of the Line? Saudi Arabia to scale back plans for desert megacity

#162

Post by EduardoBautista »

yreg wrote: post #155
EduardoBautista wrote: post #143

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It also makes money from construction projects. It’s one of the big reasons they offer residence visas to people who buy real estate there. I live in Dubai but grew up in the United States. Despite what people may believe, there is freedom of religion here, women aren’t oppressed, and the government genuinely cares about having a good city to live in.

>about having a good city to live in I don't want to open a flame war, but I visited the city during the Expo and its a highway with a stripe of skyscrapers on each side and slums beyond. It's impossible to walk anywhere. (To be fair, the public transport is pretty good, as long as you live next to the highway.) When I read "a good city to live in" I imagine something like Vienna.

> It's impossible to walk anywhere.

That is fair. I guess my comparison is San Diego (where I grew up) and Mexico, where I lived all of my adult life until moving to Dubai in 2022.

The city is building a new metro line and improving on walkability as new neighborhoods of high population density pop up. It will still be very focused on shopping malls with AC because of the heat during the summers. Official records of real estate transactions have a data point for "closest shopping mall" for a reason.

Re: End of the Line? Saudi Arabia to scale back plans for desert megacity

#163

Post by zaphirplane »

delta_p_delta_x wrote: post #136
zaphirplane wrote: post #119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Clearly you dislike gulf countries. The points raised are a mixture of facts, fiction, jealousy and dislike. You want them to boil in desert heat with some environmental appeal, while many countries pump the air full of pollution from factories or massive ICE cars I haven’t heard of back alley executions over there I don’t feel hate towards someone spending their money on 2 cars or a holiday house or whatever luxury…

> Clearly you dislike gulf countries. I'll be frank: I have a deep mistrust of any culture present in the Arabian peninsula since about 632 CE.

Could it be racism?

Re: End of the Line? Saudi Arabia to scale back plans for desert megacity

#164

Post by paganel »

delta_p_delta_x wrote: post #43

The only thing the Gulf states have going for them is oil money and a good hub location on the Europe–Southeast Asia airline routes. Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Riyadh, Bahrain, Qatar, they all remind me of that quote from King of the Hill—they are monuments to man's arrogance. Desert cities hitting 50+ °C air temperature at midday which means air conditioning everywhere; vapid luxury in the form of expensive garish cars, shop…

> The only thing the Gulf states have going for them is oil money and a good hub location on the Europe–Southeast Asia

Do they need anything more? And you mentioned airplanes, but you failed to mention logistics more generally and container shipping, with Jebel Ali port being the third largest (behind LA and Rotterdam) in a list that would exclude East Asia and Singapore. [1] There's also tourism because, yes, people are actually paying money in order to visit places like Dubai, and that's because they like what they see there.

And then there's finance.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_busiest_container_port...?

Re: End of the Line? Saudi Arabia to scale back plans for desert megacity

#165

Post by John23832 »

delta_p_delta_x wrote: post #43

The only thing the Gulf states have going for them is oil money and a good hub location on the Europe–Southeast Asia airline routes. Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Riyadh, Bahrain, Qatar, they all remind me of that quote from King of the Hill—they are monuments to man's arrogance. Desert cities hitting 50+ °C air temperature at midday which means air conditioning everywhere; vapid luxury in the form of expensive garish cars, shop…

I present you, Phoenix AZ.

Re: End of the Line? Saudi Arabia to scale back plans for desert megacity

#166

Post by The_Colonel »

leoedin wrote: post #56
gherkinnn wrote: post #19

The whole idea of a linear city is daft. A circle is way more efficient at getting around. The dimensions of the Line are, of course, silly as well.

Yeah, I'm really struggling to understand why a linear city is appealing. I suppose if you set a hard limit of one train line in your city, then building it along that train line might make sense. You'd spend a lot of time on that one train line though - and I imagine in the central bits it would get really really busy as people are trying to get to the other end. And what happens if that train line breaks? Making a…

A linear city gives you more opportunities for expansion. A disc one needs to be planned well from the start, but it's difficult to account for future needs.

Re: End of the Line? Saudi Arabia to scale back plans for desert megacity

#167

Post by smashah »

alangibson wrote: post #134

I want to see someone seriously analyze what would happen if there was a power loss to the Line. Hundreds of thousands of people in a glass box in 50C weather with no AC sounds like a recipe for a record breaking mass casualty event.

It doesn't get that hot up there in the corner of the country. 0s in the winter up to 40 in the summer but good point nonetheless

Re: End of the Line? Saudi Arabia to scale back plans for desert megacity

#168

Post by int_19h »

zaphirplane wrote: post #161
int_19h wrote: post #151

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In Saudi Arabia specifically, atheism is a capital crime. I think it's pretty sensible for atheists to hate a country that literally wants to kill them; do you find that strange?

Straw man argument. I was refuting the back alley execution if that’s what you are getting at

You're technically correct in that the executions there are generally proudly done openly and often in public, and that backalley assassination of Khashoggi happened outside of the country.

Re: End of the Line? Saudi Arabia to scale back plans for desert megacity

#169

Post by theGeatZhopa »

yard2010 wrote: post #66
theGeatZhopa wrote: post #23

That comes unexpected. I really would like to see how this works out. It's a possible way of living in the future. If the earth becomes more fiendly, such cities would offer autonomous compounds for the people. Now i would like to know if somebody is building the ARCs ...

Let me tell you something about the middle east Habibi.. Everything here is a ruse.

I got it, you dislike middle east. Now, please, concentrate on my arguments again.

Re: End of the Line? Saudi Arabia to scale back plans for desert megacity

#170

Post by smashah »

Simon_ORourke wrote: post #61
delta_p_delta_x wrote: post #43

The only thing the Gulf states have going for them is oil money and a good hub location on the Europe–Southeast Asia airline routes. Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Riyadh, Bahrain, Qatar, they all remind me of that quote from King of the Hill—they are monuments to man's arrogance. Desert cities hitting 50+ °C air temperature at midday which means air conditioning everywhere; vapid luxury in the form of expensive garish cars, shop…

> local chiefs who oppose stupid and unrealistic white elephant vanity projects are executed. Let's not gloss over the absolutely appalling respect many of these societies have for human dignity. Public executions and flogging, discrimination and imprisonment based solely on gender, absolutely zero regard for freedom of conscience when it comes to matters of religion. There's only so much you can get away with by say…

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