Saudi Arabia has plans for a liberal megacity 22 times the size of New York where women jog in CROP TOPS
The country's visionary Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman wants the £373 billion futuristic city to be Saudi Arabia?s next economic powerhouse
The project, dubbed NEOM, is part of the young prince?s vision of social and economic changes that he wants to put in place to create a more progressive future for Saudi Arabia.
In a promotional video for the NEOM project, women can be seen jogging in crop tops and working side by side with male colleagues - a far cry from the Saudi Arabia where, up until last month, women weren?t even allowed to drive a car.
NEOM is a business and industrial zone extending to neighbouring Jordan and Egypt, and spanning 10,231sq miles ? making it 33 times bigger than New York City.
The proposed megacity will be financed by the Saudi government and private investors, and powered entirely by wind and solar energy. It will focus on the food, entertainment, energy and water, biotechnology and advanced manufacturing industries.
The NEOM zone would serve as another revenue stream for Saudi Arabia, the world?s top oil exporter, which has struggled with slumping oil prices since 2014.
Announcing the project at a major investment conference in the capital Riyadh, Prince Mohammed said NEOM would be an example of the hi-tech future he envisioned for his notoriously conservative country.
He held up two mobile phones ? one, a modern smartphone and the other, a decade-old device ? to illustrate the difference between futuristic NEOM and anything else.
He said: ?This project is not a place for any conventional investor, this is a place for dreamers who want to do something in the world.
?The strong political will and the desire of a nation. All the success factors are there to create something big in Saudi Arabia.?
The NEOM zone will sit adjacent to the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aqaba, between Egypt and Saudi Arabia, and close to the maritime trade routes that use the Suez Canal.
Saudi Arabia?s Public Investment Fund, which will partially fund the project, said NEOM would be a gateway to the proposed King Salman Bridge that will link Egypt and Saudi Arabia.
The megacity is Prince Mohammed?s boldest move yet in his mission to rapidly modernise Saudi Arabia, which has long been ruled by strict religious law and under the influence of hard line religious clerics.
He has a plan for social and economic reforms under what he calls Vision 2030, including the NEOM project. Allowing women to drive was another major reform under Vision 2030 and Saudi Arabia may soon bring back cinemas.
Prince Mohammed, who was appointed crown prince in June by his father, King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, is relatively popular among his fellow Saudi millennials, and he knows they are crucial in his vision for his country?s future, in which he also wants to see a more moderate observation of Islam.