The historic Abbazia di San Gregorio in Venice will be home to a landmark exhibition entitled, ‘Zero Gravity Urbanism – Principles for a New Livability’. The exhibition features the proposals of world leading architects sharing their work on THE LINE and their contribution to this urban revolution. Contributors include Morphosis, Sir Peter Cook, UNStudio, Fuksas, Oyler Wu, DMAA, and Adjaye, among others.

Zero Gravity Urbanism proposes a radical and progressive approach to cities with a sharper view towards balancing nature, livability, and human progress. In contrast to city development of the last century, it provides a sustainable model that responds to the world’s most pressing environmental and urban challenges, while addressing the need to accommodate a fast-growing urban population. The proposed model tackles urban sprawl, and climate change.

From a conservation perspective, THE LINE proposes a city that can accommodate up to 9 million inhabitants with a land footprint of 2% of that of cities with a similar population. This allows nature to thrive and contributes to protecting 95% of NEOM’s 26,500 km2 land area. THE LINE is also a model for a city that is fully powered by renewable energy and is supported with sustainable water and food production.

From a human perspective, THE LINE, with its 3-dimensional organisation of private and public space, provides universal and equitable access to amenities and services. It will also ensure all residents have direct views and immediate access to nature. The city is car-free and is composed of hyper mixed-use walkable communities providing 5-minute access to daily needs.

Nadhmi Al-Nasr, CEO of NEOM, said, “The work undertaken by NEOM in the last few years will not only be important in the context of THE LINE, but will also in a pro-active and meaningful way, help to engage in the ongoing development of sustainable urban design globally.”

The Venice exhibition, curated by Ramon Prat, will be open to the public between 20 May and 24 September 2023.