Whenever anyone thinks of NEOM, the 263,000-hectare smart city in Saudi Arabia, they envision vast, empty land where excavators are digging up the desert to bring this futuristic city to life.  You wouldn’t really think that people are actually living there, but it turns out that a small community is currently thriving in the futuristic city.

If you open TikTok, you’ll find many stay-at-home moms—wives of employees involved in building NEOM—filming themselves giving tours of their living spaces.

Many are housed in community compounds or construction camps where offices, schools, gyms, and all basic needs are provided. These camps or compounds get special names like NEOM Community 1 (NC1), and inside, they house expats from more than 100 different countries.

The only aspect that is a bit different about these communities is that there are no malls or shopping centers, so residents rely on online shopping and the local post office.

Seeing as how a community is near one of the thriving smart cities, we may start getting a glimpse into its formation over the years.

Read the full story at Scoop Empire