The reality in this case exceeds the imagination. A city of the future, built on three dimensions, 170 km long, 200 meters wide and 500 meters high, where the longest distance will be covered in 20 minutes (with hyperloop, as soon as it can guarantee the required performance). A city where there are all the necessary services: residences and hotels, shops and services for citizens, schools (including universities) and parks, hospitals and sports facilities (even the mega stadium where you can organize international events and tournaments). The transport systems will guarantee the maximum possible performance: a mega airport destined to become one of the most important in the world, subways, electric minibuses with autonomous driving and therefore without a driver, micro electric mobility for every need (scooters and bikes but also more suitable vehicles to disabled and elderly people). But above all a green city where there will be parks and gardens, natural expanses with flowers and plants and even an artificial lake where the 100 largest yachts in the world can moor.
Where is it
The construction site has already started: the first residents will arrive in 2026, after four years the presence of one million inhabitants is expected. All in the heart of the desert, in the province of Tabuk in Saudi Arabia. A unique and futuristic project of its kind that saw the participation of some teams that belong to the largest architecture and engineering firms in the world. And in one of these teams there is also a Monza. To sign a part of this great city of the future called “The Line” is Thomas Valentini, an expert in transport systems planning who also held the position of sole director at Monza Mobilità. But now the big leap: entry into the elite of international experts with the participation – together with his team – in the project wanted by a great sheikh.
Super green and technological transport
The rendering of the city of the future leaves you speechless: a green, fast city, where everything is close at hand, with automated transport but above all a lot of attention to well-being and free time. “I am very proud to have participated in this project and to have signed some forms of this city – explains Thomas Valentini to MonzaToday -. At the base is the idea that anyone, every day, can reach offices, services, places of leisure and sport in less than 5 minutes. For this reason we had to design an extremely efficient transport system, guaranteeing maximum accessibility for all. And the longest distance, that of 170 km between the airport and the western end of the city, will be covered in 20 minutes ”. After the first briefing, Thomas and his colleagues immediately got to work and each team prepared a proposal for a “module” (an 800-meter stretch of city in which between 75 and 80 thousand people can live on average) with all the characteristics minimum requests from the sheikh. “In addition to an underground line located outside the module, for travel along ‘The Line’ we have proposed 4 mobility corridors about 12 meters wide, structured on three floors each and distributed in height on both sides of the city – he specifies – the first just above ground level, the others at 150, 300 and 450 meters high. Each mobility corridor is made up of a ‘high street’ dedicated to pedestrians and micro-mobility and 2 levels reserved for autonomous vehicles that will offer fixed-time or on-call services, in the two opposite directions to the west and east ”.
Beware of the fragile
Transportation is one of the flagships of this city, where Thomas Valentini has made all his experience available. “Some electric vehicles follow a fixed schedule and serve stops at a distance of 400 meters every 2 minutes – he continues – others act as taxis with on-call service in real time and therefore without any waiting. Particular attention is also paid to the elderly and frail with the presence of futuristic kiosks where special vehicles on 3 wheels are also made available. Of course these are also electric ”. Vertical displacements are also fundamental (also in this case the project saw the intervention of the Monza). “We had to design solutions that allowed people to move between the approximately 112 floors without having to wait more than 20-30 seconds for the lift, but which at the same time allowed pick-ups or deliveries to each floor starting from the distribution center located in the basement. of each module – he reveals -. For people, in all the modules I worked for, I planned 160 elevators traveling at a speed of 10 meters per second, while for goods I thought of slower systems but still able to quickly manage 35,000 / 40,000 sockets. and deliveries that we have estimated for each day “. The management of goods is characterized by particularly innovative solutions: “The sorting of goods is automated – adds the Monza -. Thanks to artificial intelligence, the products will be distributed also using autonomous robots or drones that will deliver many products to residents’ homes or commercial establishments, but also numerous lockers distributed on each floor based on the functions present, some of which are also suitable for the delivery of frozen or fresh products “.
Green and sport
A city where there is greenery on the roofs, where there are spaces and services both for those who love the sea and for those who love the mountains complete with an artificial lake. Even the apartments, of course, are super futuristic and super technological with costs only within reach of millionaires (“For the most valuable units, I can think of costs of even 50-60 thousand euros per square meter”, adds Valentini). The Monza is proud to be part of this extraordinary project.
Monza in the heart
But he always looks fondly at his Monza where he lives with his wife and two children. “I am very attached to my city and I am always available to give my contribution to anyone who feels they need it, to study a plan for accessibility to the stadium, also taking advantage of the very recent experience in the preliminary analysis for the Roma stadium, but also for the Urban Sustainable Mobility Plan which is of fundamental importance for the future of the city ”, he concludes.