Saudi Arabia really, really wants you to like it. In order to convince you that it’s actually a cool place to live and not a theocratic nightmare located in the middle of nature’s oven, they’ve tried all sorts of zany things. They hosted the Riyadh Comedy Festival, got MrBeast to open an amusement park — heck, they even let women drive! Sure, they only started doing that a few years ago, but it’s progress!

Another way they’ve been trying to lure attention and investment is through city-building. To that end, Saudi Arabia has poured billions into two of the dumbest megacity projects ever conceived.

The first was The Line, a proposed “city” that was to be built in a straight line across the country (plans were recently significantly scaled back). The second is simply called Neom.

When it was announced, Neom was hyped as a “city of the future” featuring glow-in-the-dark beaches, robot maids, a fake moon, and mechanical dinosaurs. Years later, what we’re actually seeing is pretty bleak to say the least.

Satellite photos show thousands of identical housing blocks surrounded by endless sand. There’s the occasional tennis court or swimming pool, but they’re far from many of the cookie-cutter houses — meaning you'll either drive three minutes or walk through 120-degree heat just to use them.

TikToks filmed in Neom show nice restaurants, but the decor and architecture are so bland and dreary they make a walk through IKEA feel like a trip to the Louvre. Add in some harsh fluorescent white lighting, and you’ve got a recipe for a place that I, nor anyone else I know, would ever want to visit.

At least there’s a beach — then again, you can say the same thing about Florida.

@recruitment.guy NEOM part 2: What is life like if you work at NEOM? #neom#saudilife#saudi#construction#recruitment#careers♬ original sound - Recruitment Guy