The latest concept images for the futuristic project, which includes a ship travelling through the linear smart city, appear to be closer to optical illusions than reality.

The Line is supposed to be the crown jewel in the Saudi government’s Vision 2030

Graphic renders of the metropolis show that it will be encased in two long mirrored skyscrapers lying sideways

Pictures show the confusing metropolis floating over a marina

The mirrored structure looks like something out of a sci-fi filmCredit: YouTube/NEOM

Located in the Tabuk Province and facing Egypt across the Red Sea, the futuristic project will become part of the new urban area of Neom.

Alongside the new concept images, Neom’s social media account claimed the 106-mile metropolis will “redefine liveability” and “transform how we live​”.

Yet it didn’t take long for critics to slam the confusing images, which depict two long mirrored skyscrapers surrounding the city.

But with the mirrors set to reflect the sky, surrounding desert and water, it gives off the illusion of invisibility – and therefore makes the city vanish for ships approaching from a certain angle.

This offers little explanation as to what purpose the futuristic marina would serve or how it would be accessed.

Yet it comes as the latest in a long list of dilemmas for The Line since the ambitious plans were first announced.

Meanwhile, analysts claim the huge structure will kill billions of birds who use the route to migrate every year between Europe and Africa, the Wall Street Journal reports.

In a previous study, experts claimed that the giant mirrored facades, the orientation of the city and the plans to add wind turbines on top of it would pose a significant threat to the birds that fly over Saudi Arabia every year.

Professor William Sutherland, director of research in Cambridge University’s zoology department, told The Times: “Birds flying into tall windows is a serious problem, and this is a building that is 500m high going across Saudi Arabia, with windmills on top.

“So unless they do something about it, there’s a serious risk that there could be lots of damage to migratory birds.”

Some people also cast doubt over the technology touted for the project that does not exist and is yet to be invested.

And while the project has been pitched as a green, sustainable city of the future, leading environmental researchers have identified the project as one of the most pressing conversation issues to watch out for.

Saudi Arabia’s NEOM was predicted to cost £1.2trillion to build but reports have since claimed it could be closer to the $2trillion mark if built in full.

This has led to plans for the 106-mile-long sideways skyscraper to be dramatically scaled back.

The Line was to be home to 1.5 million residents by the end of the decade who were to be served by robots and AI creations.

But the giga-project hoped by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to move Saudi Arabia’s economy away from its reliance on oil may not proceed as expected.

The Line is s now looking more likely that it will stretch a measly 2.4km and house only 300,000 people by 2030, according to reports seen by The Telegraph.

The “unsurprising” scale-down is said by experts to reflect the Saudi government’s struggles to win over foreign investors, as well as the nation’s vulnerability to oil prices.

Torbjorn Soltvedt, principal analyst at risk consultancy MaplecroftAdvertisement, told The Telegraph: “Foreign direct investment investors haven’t really bought into the Crown Prince’s vision for a new Saudi Arabia.”

Earlier this year, incredible aerial images revealed the mind-bending scale of the planned futuristic megacity as a 105-mile-long chasm was carved out of mountains and desert.

However, it remains to be seen exactly what progress has been made, with the latest pictures of the construction site showing a bare desert landscape and no apparent foundations.

‘BUILT OVER BLOOD’

Beneath the glitzy facades of NEOM lies the story of threats, forced evictions and bloodshed.

Many projects have faced fierce criticism over human rights abuses – including the £400billion Neom project where tribes were shoved out of their homeland, imprisoned or executed.

At least 20,000 members of the Huwaitat tribe face eviction, with no information about where they will live in the future.

Authorities in the port city of Jeddah also demolished many houses to implement Saudi’s development plans – with thousands of locals evicted illegally.

One campaigner claimed: “Neom is built on Saudi blood.”

Jeed Basyouni, Middle East director of the human rights organisation Reprieve, told DW: “We have seen, time and again, that anyone who disagrees with the crown prince, or gets in his way, risks being sentenced to jail or to death.”

In 2022, Saudi Arabia sentenced three tribesmen to death for refusing to leave the desert site of the futuristic supercity Neom.

The trio from the Howeitat tribe had protested against their forcible eviction from the northern Tabuk province to make way for the ultra-modern metropolis.

An artist’s impression of the tall parallel structures that would make up The Line

The proposed Line is just 200 metres wide