Saudi City of Future Enlists Dutch Help to Grow Crops in Desert

Aug 02, 2023

Saudi Arabia is teaming up with a Dutch greenhouse company to create “a synthetic climate” to make the desert bloom.

It’s carving out an area the size of some 15 soccer fields to form a horticulture oasis on the outskirts of Neom, an entirely new city being built on the Red Sea coast that extends out into the desert. The commitment marks the biggest food—tech investment for a country whose largely arid landscape and extreme summer temperatures have long left it reliant on imports to supply most food.