I’m back in NYC and still dreaming of beautiful, clean, efficient, aspiring, architecturally significant Riyadh Metro. The metro system just opened in 2024. It cost $22 billion to build and covers over 176 kilometers, or about 110 miles, across six different lines. It is the world’s longest driverless metro system. There are a few knock it out of the park architecturally stunning stations that left me swooning. Overall traveling in Saudi, where there are so many huge investments being made, really reminded me of the possibility when an aspirational vision pushes forward beyond people’s wildest dreams. This is complicated because clearly there are many underlying issues behind Saudi money and labor practices, and building in a desert climate, that make every project questionable, but I can’t talk about the trip without admitting that all the new stuff adds to all my feels about the trip overall.
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