Neom: Can Saudi Arabia afford the futuristic eco-city? - The Global Story podcast, BBC World Service

Neom, Saudi Arabia's ambitious city of the future, promises a car-free, carbon-free space open to all. At the heart of the plans are two skyscrapers as tall as the Empire State building, carved into the desert in a straight line for more than 100 miles. But can this dream ever become a reality? Click here to subscribe to our channel 👉🏽 https://bbc.in/3VyyriM Katya Adler is joined by BBC Verify's Merlyn Thomas, who has been investigating allegations that Saudi security forces were permitted to use lethal force while clearing inhabitants from the vast building site, and BBC Middle East Business Correspondent, Sameer Hashmi, who tells us that Saudi Arabia is banking on Neom to help future proof its economy, but that they might struggle to cover the rising costs of the project. 00:07 Introduction 01:19 What is Neom? 02:22 What does Neom tell us about Saudi Arabia? 03:39 Difficulties investigating Neom 05:07 How important is Neom to Saudi Arabia? 06:12 Locals displaced to build Neom 07:27 Death of local protestor 09:28 Green credentials of Neom 11:14 Accusations of greenwashing 12:20 Saudi Arabia's plans for oil and renewables 13:22 The cost of Neom 14:06 "Double the annual government budget" 15:51 Questions about the design of The Line 16:28 Will Neom and The Line become reality? 17:27 Can Saudi Arabia achieve their commercial aims with Neom? Watch more episodes of The Global Story here 👉🏽 https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLz_B0PFGIn4dvK8UQS79GwGLDl94Z3gkt You can listen to more episodes of The Global Story here. Making sense of the news with our experts around the world. Insights you can trust, Monday to Friday, from the BBC 👉🏽 https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w13xtvsd/episodes/downloads ---------------- This is the official BBC World Service YouTube channel. If you like what we do, you can also find us here: Instagram 👉🏽 https://www.instagram.com/bbcworldservice Twitter 👉🏽 https://twitter.com/bbcworldservice Facebook 👉🏽 https://facebook.com/bbcworldservice BBC World Service website 👉🏽 https://www.bbc.co.uk/worldserviceradio Thanks for watching and subscribing! #BBCWorldService #WorldService #saudiarabia