Despite its ranking as the world's top oil exporter, Saudi Arabia has started work on a futuristic desert city that will be free of cars and roads and be powered by 100 percent clean energy, with residents expected to move in as early as 2024. 

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman first announced plans for The Line, a 105-mile long series of urban areas along a central 'spine,' back in January in a televised address. 

Now bulldozers have finally started moving earth and tunneling through mountains to install the linear city's three layers: a surface region for pedestrians, plus two subterranean layers for transport and infrastructure.

'It's a huge undertaking,' the project's chief executive, Nadhmi Al-Nasr, told Bloomberg, estimating that 'not even one percent' of the work needed to plan and build The Line is done.

Rather than constructing from one starting point and building out, Al-Nasr added that developers are considering 'starting from two points' and building toward the center.

Stretching from the mountains of northwest Saudi Arabia to the Red Sea, The Line's clusters of aggregated communities will house up to 1 million people in total, connected by ultra-high-speed transit and 'autonomous mobility solutions,' according to a release from the start of the year.

Schools, restaurants, shops and other destinations would all be within a five-minute walk and 'no journey will be longer than 20 minutes.'

It's linear shape and subterranean infrastructure will help preserve 95 percent of the natural landscape, developers said. 

Saudi Arabia will invest between $100 and $200 billion in The Line, which is predicted will generate 380,000 new jobs and boost Saudi Arabia's GDP by roughly $48 billion by 2030.