Canada's 'housing bubble' deemed close to bursting

[Coldrsx]

I'm incredibly excited for Neom and what it could deliver, inspire and it's aspirational nature.

[MonkeyRonin]

Originally Posted by Coldrsx

I'm incredibly excited for Neom and what it could deliver, inspire and it's aspirational nature.

Such as human rights abuses? https://www.dezeen.com/2022/10/17/neom-death-sentences-saudi-arabia/

The only thing that this monumentally stupid project might inspire is other dictators to pursue similaraly megalomaniacal vanity projects.

[Coldrsx]

I'm certainly not excusing their track record with human rights, but the project in undeniably incredible in its scope, magnitude and potential.

[swimmer_spe]

Originally Posted by Coldrsx

I'm incredibly excited for Neom and what it could deliver, inspire and it's aspirational nature.

All that makes me think of is the movie Judge Dredd. No thank you.

[Wigs]

Originally Posted by Coldrsx

I'm incredibly excited for Neom and what it could deliver, inspire and it's aspirational nature.

you gotta be kidding me

I'm with Adam on this
• Video Link

commentary: "It's going to be so modern and futuristic that flying pods will take you to your beheading after the Saudi religious Police deems you a blashphemer for sharing an article about Women's rights"

[Innsertnamehere]

Apparently they have recruiters trolling around Canada trying to pull development talent to manage the project. An ex-TTC chair is now "head of access road planning" or some such for the project.

[thewave46]

We shall see if it joins the Jeddah Tower in the hubris meets reality pile.

The Saudis have bigger issues for the future. The country will be one of the 'exciting' flashpoints of the world in the next few decades.

[JHikka]

A friend of mine was recently in Saudi and she tried to ride their Damman-Riyadh railway line but they wouldn't sell tickets day-of and they had to be purchased a week in advance - turns out when a petrostate builds a railway it's only for show and not built sincerely as an option for people to use to get around. I'm sure Neom is being built in the same vein: a ridiculous and desperate attempt by the country to ramp up their tourism in an attempt to wean off of oil.

[MolsonExport]

Originally Posted by Coldrsx

I'm incredibly excited for Neom and what it could deliver, inspire and it's aspirational nature.

[casper]

Originally Posted by JHikka

A friend of mine was recently in Saudi and she tried to ride their Damman-Riyadh railway line but they wouldn't sell tickets day-of and they had to be purchased a week in advance - turns out when a petrostate builds a railway it's only for show and not built sincerely as an option for people to use to get around. I'm sure Neom is being built in the same vein: a ridiculous and desperate attempt by the country to ramp up their tourism in an attempt to wean off of oil.

Better user of money would be to just keep buying shares in Citi bank and other large multi-nationals. That was their strategy for decades.

No need to build linear cities in the desert.

[Wigs]

Originally Posted by casper

Better user of money would be to just keep buying shares in Citi bank and other large multi-nationals. That was their strategy for decades.

No need to build linear cities in the desert.

Yeah they have tons of investment in US companies (Citi, Disney, Facebook, etc).
The only "green" project I'm aware of is that the Saudi Public Investment fund owns like ~60% of Lucid motors. The American electric vehicle company that's higher end and gets better range than Tesla.

Remember the leadership are the ones who brutally assassinated journalist Jamal Khashoggi, not exactly a friendly Petrostate.

[thewave46]

Originally Posted by casper

Better user of money would be to just keep buying shares in Citi bank and other large multi-nationals. That was their strategy for decades.

No need to build linear cities in the desert.

That doesn't keep locals employed, nor feed the appearance of doing something for the future.

Dubai - in a sense - set the model for a post-oil transition. Dubai's just a better example because it leveraged the concept of acting as an air hub (see: Emirates and their connecting the world strategy) into building a Middle East Las Vegas for the region.

I am not sure more uptight Saudi Arabia can replicate that.

[O-tacular]

Originally Posted by swimmer_spe

All that makes me think of is the movie Judge Dredd. No thank you.

Combo of Judge Dredd and Mars colony in Total Recall. Completely dystopian. Also horrible for the environment contrary to what it claims. Those mirrored walls will kill millions of birds and probably fry their surroundings. Bin Salman will have easy access to all of his subjects / slaves. This looks like Xi's —. A dystopian nightmare.

[Wigs]

Originally Posted by thewave46

That doesn't keep locals employed, nor feed the appearance of doing something for the future.
...

In the PetroStates like UAE or Saudi Arabia locals don't do manual labour like construction. This was mentioned when Lucid has been talking about building a car manufacturing plant there. Instead of good paying jobs for locals it will be underpaid foreign, temporary foreign workers subjected to lord knows what kind of work environment.

Saudis or Emiratis are the managerial class.

see also: Qatar building facilities to host the World Cup
https://www.theguardian.com/global-devel...-worker-deaths-qatar-fifa-world-cup-2022

[swimmer_spe]

Originally Posted by thewave46

That doesn't keep locals employed, nor feed the appearance of doing something for the future.

Dubai - in a sense - set the model for a post-oil transition. Dubai's just a better example because it leveraged the concept of acting as an air hub (see: Emirates and their connecting the world strategy) into building a Middle East Las Vegas for the region.

I am not sure more uptight Saudi Arabia can replicate that.

Building this will keep the locals employed.

Originally Posted by O-tacular

Combo of Judge Dredd and Mars colony in Total Recall. Completely dystopian. Also horrible for the environment contrary to what it claims. Those mirrored walls will kill millions of birds and probably fry their surroundings. Bin Salman will have easy access to all of his subjects / slaves. This looks like Xi's —. A dystopian nightmare.

The Mars Colony wasn't bad, if you had the money.

[Mister F]

Originally Posted by O-tacular

Combo of Judge Dredd and Mars colony in Total Recall. Completely dystopian. Also horrible for the environment contrary to what it claims. Those mirrored walls will kill millions of birds and probably fry their surroundings. Bin Salman will have easy access to all of his subjects / slaves. This looks like Xi's —. A dystopian nightmare.

I'm getting some serious Deux Ex Golem City vibes from that thing. Which was inspired by the Kowloon walled city.


https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1657959155

[JHikka]

Originally Posted by swimmer_spe

Building this will keep the locals employed.

What locals? The migrant workers they'll import from India?

[SignalHillHiker]

This ad for a house off Barter's Hill ($195K) has lovely shots of the backside of mine. Also, drone shots for a house under $200K? The markets, they are a'changin' lol

[Wigs]

SHH, how far is the walk to the pubs, George St?

[SignalHillHiker]

Originally Posted by Wigs

SHH, how far is the walk to the pubs, George St?

5 mins downhill, 15 back up.