Whenever anyone thinks of Neom, the 263,000-hectare smart city in Saudi Arabia, they envision vast, empty land where excavators are digging up the desert to bring this futuristic city to life.
You wouldn’t really think that people are actually living there, but it turns out that a small community is currently thriving in the futuristic city.
POV: You Live In Neom
Given that the smart city has a long way to go and is expected to show some semblance of life by 2030, a lot of work has to be put into its construction. That means that a large number of employees are needed to reside in the city, which is how small community bubbles have begun to form.
What Is Life Like In Neom?
If you open TikTok, you’ll find many stay-at-home moms—wives of employees involved in building Neom—filming themselves giving tours of their living spaces.
Many are housed in community compounds or construction camps where offices, schools, gyms, and all basic needs are provided. These camps or compounds get special names like Neom Community 1 (NC1), and inside, they house expats from more than 100 different countries.
The lives of the stay-at-home moms are pretty ordinary, with many filming typical day-in-the-life vlogs of them picking up their kids from school or grabbing a cup of coffee from the local cafe. It gives off typical town and community vibes.
The only aspect that is a bit different about these communities is that there are no malls or shopping centers, so residents rely on online shopping and the local post office.
Seeing as how a community is near one of the thriving smart cities, we may start getting a glimpse into its formation over the years.