Challenge: NEOM’s visionary urban project, THE LINE, required a forward-looking narrative to explore how life might evolve within this revolutionary urban framework 75 years into the future. The task was to create a worldbuilding previsualization that humanized this vision, integrating technological, social, and environmental shifts to imagine a living, thriving ecosystem within THE LINE. This involved collaborating across disciplines to ensure a blend of speculative storytelling and grounded feasibility.

Solution: Partnering with Alex McDowell’s Experimental Design and two other firms, SciFutures and Quantum XPR, I developed a previsualization framework that focused on human-centric narratives while leveraging cutting-edge methodologies in worldbuilding that could be applied to NEOM. Key elements included:

• Speculative Futures Design: Envisioning how residents of THE LINE might live, work, and interact with their environment in 75 years, emphasizing technological integration, sustainability, and cultural evolution.

• Human-Centric Approach: Shifting the narrative from infrastructure-focused visions to one that explored the lived experiences of residents, considering education, healthcare, mobility, and community dynamics.

• Immersive Previsualization: Using advanced visual storytelling techniques, including virtual simulations and narrative-driven 3D models, to create an experiential glimpse into future life on THE LINE.

• Cross-Disciplinary Collaboration: Integrating input from architects, futurists, scientists, and urbanists to ensure a cohesive vision grounded in both speculative imagination and pragmatic insights.

Outcome: Engaging Visualization: Delivered an immersive previsualization that brought THE LINE’s future to life, serving as a tool for stakeholders to understand and contribute to its long-term vision.

Enhanced Narrative Depth: Positioned NEOM as a thought leader not just in urban infrastructure but also in imagining the social and cultural possibilities of future living.

Collaborative Impact: Fostered a multi-disciplinary approach that bridged speculative futures with actionable insights, paving the way for innovative storytelling in urban design.

Impact: The worldbuilding previsualization for NEOM’s LINE established a new standard for integrating speculative design with human-centric narratives in urban planning. It influenced NEOM’s broader strategy by showcasing how future cities could balance technological advancements with the needs and aspirations of their inhabitants.

This case demonstrates my ability to lead high-concept, collaborative projects that merge creativity with practicality, shaping how future cities are imagined and communicated on a global scale.