Downtown Circle is made up of five levels and would sit on five points, or pillars, embedded into the ground. The massive span of the circle itself would be composed of two main rings held together by a continuous green belt named the Skypark which vertically connects the floors with each other creating a connected three-dimensional urban green eco-system. — The National

The National mentions that the (supposedly) self-sustaining 550-meter-tall (1,804-foot) structure would include a tram system and incredible landscaped features such as swamps and a waterfall in and around its three-kilometer (1.86-mile) long tract. ZNera Space, the Dubai-based firm behind the proposal, mentioned it in terms of the NEOM project’s recently-announced 'The Line' megastructure, stating that its concept differs within an urban context, but that the radical design, which was thought up during the pandemic, "raises the discussion of what we can do better" in terms of agricultural production and social division.

"Our roles as architects is to come up with these ideas," co-founder Najmus Chowdry said. "We want people to comment on it, criticise it, to see how we can think about building topographies."

It's wild how their business model "works" in the social media age. The founder worked at Mecanoo for a grand total of 2 years before starting this company, now with a staff of 8, which has not built a single project in its 8 years of existence. Rather, it's in the business of producing renders for social media consumption - and subsequently, gaining the attention of Middle Eastern developers. Do they work on projects that are simply not featured on their website? Are they funded from outside sources? Architects have been tooting their own horn for centuries, in the hopes of winning the commission of wealthy patrons. Remember that Russian studio that hitched its brand to the Cybertruck bandwagon by quickly pumping out a series of renders featuring the truck after Musk's reveal? Or the container ship house guy, who actually got a wealthy patron's attention - and money. These are rather harmless compared to the very disingenuous studio that claimed to have "designed" the world's largest carbon-sucking tower on Roosevelt Island, the flood of ill-conceived "proposals" after the Notre Dame fire, or any other attention grab after a major disaster. And now we have these guys who, upon seeing NEOM's headlines, set about crafting the most audacious sounding proposal and getting the renders out to the mainstream press ASAP. All you need apparently is a couple of renders, a press release containing all the right SEO-buzzwords, and a good PR firm to get the word out. 

Social media and rendering technology has blurred the boundaries between reality and fiction. To play devils advocate, what’s the difference really for the vast majority of people who would never visit this anyway. Much of what we experience is through images. I’ve never been to most of my favorite architecture. I’ve never been to most of the important historical buildings. In a way, the creation and consumption of these speculative fantasies is more accessible than the real thing would ever be to more people. I’d argue that architecture can be experienced in the physical space and the mental space. The mental experience is far weaker but more widespread. The physical experience is more powerful, but less widespread. I think one hope of vr will be to close those gaps allowing an enhanced experience that is easily accessible. This phenomenon that you point out is perhaps just a precursor to something more important and interesting.

As a kid I always thought science-fiction based on the idea of  humans making the world uninhabitable were far fetched. Now it's just, like, happening. And we all accept it.

Until we have liftoff, the pillars will have to do.

Yawn.  nothing original here that was not already proposed back in the 60s.  

it would be fitting for people to live in that giant anus

A tram system to loop around empty skyscrapers with "swamps" sprinkled (somehow, and why exactly) in between, all in the middle of a scorching desert climate. Throw in terms like "social division" for fun.

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