How can Saudi Arabia’s The Line city possibly work? Baffling new images of NEOM project look like optical illusions with ships somehow able to travel THROUGH the megacity – amid reports 100-mile metropolis is being scaled back [Video]

08:39 EDT 07 May 2024, updated 11:44 EDT 07 May 2024

Designs for Saudi Arabia‘s The Line are stretching the imagination once again, with baffling concept images showing a ship travelling through the megacity, amid reports that the ambitious project will need to be scaled back.

NEOM, which is behind the project and is the brainchild of ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, claims the 106-mile metropolis will ‘redefine liveability’ and ‘transform how we live​’.

But critics have said the grand plan is unfeasible, with a Bloomberg report last month suggesting it’s length will be reduced by 98 per cent to just one-and-a-half miles and will be home to just 300,000 people by 2030, rather than 1.5 million.

Renderings suggest that the metropolis will be encased in two long mirrored skyscrapers which reflect the sky, surrounding desert and water, giving the illusion of invisibility. 

So when a cruise ship sails towards its concealed entrance, it appears to vanish from a …