If (and that's a big if) this city actually comes to pass, it would augur a major shift in how Saudi women live. Until last month, Saudi Arabia was the only country where women were not allowed to drive. Male guardians in the kingdom still have the final say on whom a woman can marry and even where she travels.

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In the speech Tuesday, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman stressed that he wanted to turn his country toward a more moderate version of Islam and that he'd push for the social reforms that would accompany such a transition. “We were not like this in the past,” he said. “We want to go back to what we were: moderate Islam.”

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The $500 billion project, dubbed “Neom,” imagines a supercity that would stretch 10,230 square miles. It is intended to be a hub for technological innovation, funded by the government as well as private and international investors. “This place is not for conventional people or conventional companies,” Mohammed told an audience of investors gathered in Riyadh. “This will be a place for the dreamers of the world.”

To take one example: The prince imagined a place where drones, driverless cars and robotics might work together to ensure there's no traffic. He promised, too, that investors would make healthy returns somehow. Mohammed also envisioned cutting-edge research into energy and water, along with biotechnology, food and manufacturing.