>Middle east megaprojects serve royal purposes. They give jobs to the sons of elite families. (Yes, in this context I do mean only the male children.) It keeps

>Middle east megaprojects serve royal purposes. They give jobs to the sons of elite families. (Yes, in this context I do mean only the male children.) It keeps them engaged as "developers" doing things like soliciting bids on giant buildings or launching media campaigns, which is much less of a threat than them stewing at home or in the desert thinking up ways to overthrow kings. This is more or less my take on "The Line" project in Saudi Arabia. A literal giant hole in the ground to serve as an excuse to shovel endless amounts of untracked money into. It is never intended to be finished or even seriously built.