The end of The Line? Saudi Arabia ‘will scale back its 100-mile long megacity to something “far smaller”‘ amid spiralling costs and mounting delays
Saudi Arabia is set to scale back its ambitious 100-mile-long megacity to something ‘far smaller’, as the kingdom’s ambitious project faces spiralling costs and mounting delays.
The review could mean that the construction of the futuristic city Neom, which has already cost billions, could be significantly cut back.
Plans for the city including ‘The Line’ – which envisioned a parallel line of skyscrapers standing half a kilometre tall and 200 kilometres long – could be scrapped in the reevaluation ordered by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the day-to-day ruler of the kingdom.
The prince intended to use the project to help diversify the country’s oil-dependent economy by 2030.
But after becoming frustrated with delays and other plans being postponed or scrapped entirely, he has ordered a review into Neom, with the project now likely to turn to more achievable goals such as AI data centres.
The futuristic and mirror-laden development was supposed to be built in 2km sections and had a budget of $500billion.
The review is reported to still be in progress and it is not yet clear whether The Line will continue on a smaller scale, the Times reported.
The prince had believed that The Line could help to meet the future needs of the country, where a population of 35million is quickly expanding out of the capital, Riyadh, which is in the middle of the desert.
Plans for The Line, a 200 kilometre long row of skyscrapers, could be scaled back after the Crown Prince initiated a review into the huge project
But recent aerial pictures show the plans are still in the early stages of the project and have not made significant progress
The futuristic city of Neom included plans for mirror-encased skyscrapers that extended over 170 kilometres of desert and mountain terrain
Plans for a stadium in Neom saw a pitch 350m above ground and integrated into The Line
Trojena, a mountain resort, (pictured) was meant to host the 2029 Asian Winter Games, using man-made snow from water collected from a man-made lake. But it will not be ready in time
The Line exposition in June 2023, which showcased the designs and dramatic plans – which may now be scaled back
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman first announced plans for a zero-carbon city called ‘The Line’ to be built at NEOM in northwestern Saudi Arabia on January 10, 2021. But five years later, he has ordered a reevaluation into the project after becoming frustrated by repeated delays and mounting costs
Neom lay between Saudi Arabia and Egypt, bordering the Red Sea. Plans for the larger area of Noam included Trojena, a mountain resort which was set to host the 2029 Asian Winter Games, but it will not be complete in time.
Neom was also supposed to include an ‘Oxagon’ – an octagonal floating industrial hub.
But the only part of the project open so far is a yachting resort in the Red Sea called Sindalah, which was widely seen as an expensive failure when it launched and led to the sacking of Neom’s chief executive.
The launch included a party with Will Smith and Alicia Keys and saw 40 private yachts docked at the island. But the prince was reportedly unimpressed and questioned why it had cost so much.
Prince Mohammed has had to face successive budget cuts due to a slump in oil prices that forced the government and the sovereign Public Investment Fund (PIF) to evaluate its spending.
Saudi Arabia is undergoing a $2trillion economic transformation, but has had to pause several of its projects after running into difficulties last year.
It could mean ‘gigaprojects’ like Sandalah and The Line become shrinked because of the failing
Futuristic ‘gigaprojects’ like The Line and a superyacht island are being scaled back because of the globally falling oil price, which has been declining since the Covid pandemic.
Neom was contacted for comment.
