A common complaint against the Mars-colonisation boosters - some might say, gurus - is that there exist plenty of spots right here on Earth as could be terraformed and are not. Gobi often crops up; ditto Antarctica. Some of us retort that Antarctica could be terraformed but that politics get in the way.
So: Neom. Muhammad bin Salman Ibn Saud would terraform northwest Arabia. This is about where Hismaic was historically graffiti'd, I think. Obviously politics are hardly a problem in an uninhabited desert basically owned by the Saudi family.
I've seen plenty of Arabian boondoggles mooted over the decades, like the ice-tow scheme. The Egyptians had the Qaṭṭāra. I've even mooted a Gaza canal, myself. What can I say: I am a Semite too. Water-management is in my blood. As it were.
A problem with vanity projects - Elon, take note - is that the project-leader is one man and he tends to be vain. Nobody tells him no, so he waxes whimsic.
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