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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

#241

Post by Ahmd72 »

x2dhump wrote: post #200

Oh the bias, quiet unfortunate. So many comments against ME countries with so many false pretenses, you can easily tell many haven't set a foot on ME soil let alone actually lived there - holiday doesn't count. Having lived in ME for a long, long time I've had many liberals and atheists friends jump on the first ship to ME on a 'good' salary - slavery you say. I'm an Englishman, not a middle eastern.

This is so true, give them a good salary and all these people would be willing to come here, just plain shallowness and you end up feeling pity for them. No real backbone

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

#242

Post by avar »

alangibson wrote: post #217
avar wrote: post #204

Earlier quoted context omitted.

With the caveat that all published "plans" for the thing were probably meant as a PR stunt the plan called for passively cooling it[1]. That part actually doesn't seem implausible, it's right on the Red Sea, which is quite hot on the surface, but cools down as you you go deeper into it[2]. So (and this is just my speculation) they could have a large undersea pipeline to a depth of say 1km, and use the heat the buildi…

How are we pumping the water if the power is out? I guess they're would be diesel generators for that in reality. We need an engineer to calculate the flow needed because given how far away the far end is from the water that could end up behind one huge generator, not to mention the size of the pipes. It's worth mentioning that they don't seem to be burying any massive water pipes so this isn't likely to be done in r…

See e.g. [1], so they could either funnel air into the ocean and back up for direct temperature exchange, or alternatively use the breeze generated top-to-bottom in the building to drive "active" pumps.

Or just have Olympic-sized swimming pools in the basement that you've actively pumped water into. If the pumps are out they'll have a lot of thermal inertia.

1. https://www.archdaily.com/975502/geothermal-energy-using-the...

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

#243

Post by tomp »

Symbiote wrote: post #225
tomp wrote: post #135

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Switzerland isn't the most progressive of countries (it only gave women the right to vote in 1971) but AFAIK you don't go to jail if you fuck a man in the ass, in contrast to UAE. Not something that directly concerns me, but I'm personally more worried about restrictions on freedom of speech, but regardless not somewhere I'd be willing to live (I currently do live in Switzerland).

You should be worried about gay rights: some years ago, a French teenage boy was raped by some local men, and the authorities initially tried to get the boy to confess. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gang_rape has some more examples.

Which country are you talking about?

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

#244

Post by zaphirplane »

Biganon wrote: post #189
zaphirplane wrote: post #163

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Could it be racism?

Could it be that they execute honosexuals and treat women like second class citizens? Nah, it must be racism.

Like abortion rights, let’s see let’s encourage people to hate on Canadians and Americans because the us government has a policy on abortion.

To reiterate, having an issue with a government for a specific reason is informed. Hating an ethic group is racism.

Ps I’m not from there or live there

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

#245

Post by selimthegrim »

throw_pm23 wrote: post #154
mrtksn wrote: post #141

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think they do all that. They have plenty of universities, also their other oil rich neighbours are pouring money into British and American educational institutions to open campuses there. IIRC some Ivy league universities from the Western world have campuses in the region.

That's true but neither the students nor the instructors at those institutes are local.

I can think of one exception, a pretty famous Emirati physicist who has made a big name for himself

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

#246

Post by [deleted] »

smashah wrote: post #170
Simon_ORourke wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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…

[flagged]

[deleted]

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

#247

Post by stef25 »

dindobre wrote: post #205
cess11 wrote: post #192

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Probably not, they'll still put the money in Luxembourg and Switzerland, but they can exchange gold and diamonds and stuff like that from shady dealings in Africa for money there. If you look into it you'll find that it's a nice marketplace for israeli oligarchs running operations in DR Congo, e.g. for diamonds which Israel exports unexpected amounts of, and you'll also find that the Rapid Support Forces/Janjaweed in…

I find your second paragraph especially interesting, do you have a source (e.g. a book) to get deeper into this?

Dan Gertler

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

#248

Post by keiferski »

Moldoteck wrote: post #239
keiferski wrote: post #105

Are there any forums like HN but for architecture, and not prone to devolving into sociopolitical criticism, and instead focusing on the structures themselves? I find experimental architecture fascinating and would rather discuss the merits and flaws of the design itself. Neom reminds me of Łódź, a city in Poland that is built around a single 5km long street. It’s quite cool and the simple geometry is aesthetically a…

thing is, such projects do affect sociopolitical edges of the society. The architecture can influence how people meet, how they protest, how they receive/buy the goods, how easy is it to suppress people that doesn't follow what central party says, etc... Physically, if the environment allows it, there are no reasons to not expand in disc/square form compared to a straight line. You get more economic activity per sq k…

Politics affects everything. Doesn’t mean I want every discussion to revolve around politics.

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

#249

Post by tehjoker »

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…

don't forget sea routes

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

#250

Post by ponector »

smashah wrote: post #170
Simon_ORourke wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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…

[flagged]

Looks like nowadays no one in US does really care about other countries, even US allies.

6 months ago they stopped sending limited amount of weapons to Ukraine.

Current foreign policy of USA clearly sends a message that other countries can do anything they want to both their citizens and their neighbors.

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