Why Saudi Arabia is Building a $1 Trillion City in the Desert

Why Saudi Arabia is Building Megacities in the Sand

I traveled to Saudi Arabia to visit the Bedouin and to learn how the development of Neom will affect their way of life.

Special thanks to:
• Drew Binsky
• Sara Omar
• Salem awad Alatawy
• The Bedouin people who shared their way of life with me

MORE CHANNELS:

-- VIDEO CHAPTERS --
0:00 INTRO
3:22 THE DESERT
8:04 NEOM
16:54 DESERT PEOPLE
22:21 DESERT KINGDOM
26:21 DESERT FUTURE

AI Disclosure: Occasionally, we use AI to create some of the imagery in our videos, which our (very talented) animators then spend weeks developing into what you see in the final video. When AI is used to generate any imagery that may appear onscreen, we'll add this to the video description. We're learning as we go about AI usage and transparency, and appreciate your thoughts.

About:
Johnny Harris is an Emmy-winning independent journalist and contributor to the New York Times. Based in Washington, DC, Harris reports on interesting trends and stories domestically and around the globe, publishing to his audience of over 5 million on Youtube. Harris produced and hosted the twice Emmy-nominated series Borders for Vox Media. His visual style blends motion graphics with cinematic videography to create content that explains complex issues in relatable ways.

- press -

- where to find me -

- how i make my videos -

- my courses -

[fifthgear]

All this equipment in the desert looks like they're mining for spice.

[iammrbeat]

The footage is just breathtaking. Absolutely breathtaking.

[ryanfoley]

You have made some incredible videos during your career Johnny but I have to say this was one of your best. Great editing, sound design, filming, story telling, etc. You hit it out of the park with this one. Especially bringing attention to the other projects besides The Line but also how it's impacting the people and tribes from that area. Fascinating.

[chonghan]

Incredible video, top tier quality and content. Felt like something I needed to pay money to see, so I did!!

[phoenix]

Real footage of Neom's progress. This is rare AF given so many channels only "talk" about this.

[gauthamlal]

Thank you for not putting a yellow filter on the desert shots

[ahmedisam]

I hope people appreciate the amount of work and editing you put into your work it’s really cinematic quality

[daxx]

I am a Yemei who was born in Saudi, and I guarantee you that Saudi people are the most welcoming, kind, smart, generous, humorous, and chivalrous people in the whole region. These people deserve the best and I'm certain they will succeed in an oil-free future inshallah.

[GilgameshofUruk]

Felt like I was watching Dune at the start.

[waikonzu]

This is the most cinematic episode I have ever watched on your channel. Great job!

[dakotafaught]

The elder passing you the best parts of the food made me tear up a bit. That's so sweet.

[behnamanisi]

Dude, this was one of the best documentaries I've seen on YouTube. Capturing their prayers in the desert is just incredible. It brings tears to my eyes. 21:44

[haleyredcat]

the community you stayed with seems beyond kind and welcoming. the elder has been brightening my spirits throughout this

[sheershchaturvedi]

This is your magnum opus. Wonderful piece of journalism. Your progression has been insane to watch.

[FintanBarnett]

The contrast between the traditional Bedouin lifestyle, the vast quiet desert, and the clear skies full of stars and the impossibly large industrial machine toiling away around the clock in the background to build these trillion-dollar megaprojects in the hopes of securing power in a post-oil world is striking. This is the most beautifully produced video on this channel.

[Yu-qqzr]

"Allah will compensate us, not them". The old man's sentiments speaks volumes. May Allah punish the oppressors of the weak.

[Superman-igzb]

Holy Sh*t the production value is so high end on this video. The desert environment looks really cool.
Felt like I was watching one of your VOX videos.

[hellonrk]

This is the best! Culture + travel + geography + ground report combined! Need more of these ❤

[richardhubel]

I am starting to be worried about Johnny Harris' channels. First the completely delusional video on Russia (Much appreciated the realization which came afterwards) and now this. The video is great from storytelling and technical perspective, no question there, but same as all other videos on this topic, it, unless I missed it, completely ignores the modern day slavery which is the common practice with everything that Saudis build, sort of national sport there. Every critical fact in this video is always followed by BUT (Forced relocation BUT they get a lots of money...) I understand why creators avoid pissing off Saudis, everyone has a mortgage and all of them like to come back to the country but having the issues completely ignored by journalist/creators channels is getting a bit scary.

[ANSKSA]

I’m Saudi and watching my country through your lens quite literally took my breath away.