Saudi Arabia announces bizarre idea to construct an eight-sided floating city

Saudi Arabia has unveiled its most ambitious project yet: an eight-sided city floating in the Red Sea. According to a news release, Oxagon will be located on the outskirts of Neom, a newly-created area in the kingdom's northwest that will be 33 times the size of New York City. Neom's centerpiece is a smart city with the same name that is currently under construction.

Oxagon would be the world's largest floating structure and "home to the world's first fully automated port and integrated logistics hub." according to a dramatic but ambiguous promotional film shared to Twitter by Neom on Tuesday.

Neom did not disclose the cost of the Oxagon project or how the city would stay viable.

With 10% of all global trade passing through each year, the Red Sea is one of the world's busiest trading routes.

Neom is Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's brainchild and the centerpiece of his  13-year plan to reform the traditional kingdom called "Vision 2030.".

Neom is supported by the Public Investment Fund of the Kingdom (PIF). Both Neom and the PIF are chaired by Crown Prince Mohammed.

"Oxagon will be the catalyst for economic growth and diversity in Neom and the kingdom, further meeting our ambitions under Vision 2030." Crown Prince Mohammed stated.

"It will contribute to Saudi Arabia's regional trade and commerce, and support creating a new focal point for global trade flows. I am pleased to see that."

The Oxagon news comes after the announcements of several other large-scale projects in Saudi Arabia, including:

• "The Line," a proposed carbon-zero city that will run across the Neom region and end at the Red Sea, is slated to be developed along a 105-mile line.

• A theme park erected atop an abandoned oil rig in the Arabian Gulf is known as "The Rig,"

• The "Prince Mohammed Bin Salman Non Profit City," a projected city section in Riyadh's capital that would house nonprofit organizations and environmentally friendly industries.

Several of Crown Prince Mohammed's projects were hampered by the pandemic, but work on Neom is still underway. According to a former US ambassador, the crown prince's political success is "to a considerable extent tied to the success of" projects like these.

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