Former Turnbull minister Wyatt Roy has joined the leadership team at Neom, an ambitious and controversial $760 billion project to build a futuristic city from scratch in Saudi Arabia powered entirely by renewable energy.

Neom, which is wholly owned by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, was launched in 2017 by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman as a bid to reduce Saudi Arabia’s dependence on oil and to diversify its economy.

Salman’s vision for the megacity includes robots performing security, logistics and caregiving functions as well as more out-there technologies that don’t yet exist, including flying cars and a giant artificial moon.

The project is a key part of a plan from Salman – also known by his initials MBS – to modernise Saudi Arabia’s economy and its reputation. One of its three regions, known as The Line, is designed to have no cars, streets or carbon emissions. The Line will extend for 170 kilometres and all amenities will be available within a five-minute walk, according to Neom’s plans.

“Neom means ‘new future’, and with more than 3600 staff – from 97 countries – already living and working here onsite, it has already become a home for people who dream big and want to be part of building a new economic model for the country and the world,” the company’s website reads.

Roy was assistant innovation minister under former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull and was one of the architects of the Liberal government’s National Innovation and Science Agenda. Roy was the youngest person ever elected to federal parliament at the age of 20, then at 25, he became the youngest minister in the history of the Commonwealth.

He’s now joining Neom and to help make the project a reality.

“We need a complete rethink to solve today’s most pressing challenges, from climate change and water scarcity to lifestyle, education, mobility, and urban sustainable development. But the world’s response to these and other issues is often too slow because of legacy systems and thinking,” Roy said in a statement.