Saudi Arabia has reportedly been forced to scale back its $1.5 trillion plans for a 106-mile desert linear city, in a humiliating decision for the kingdom.
La Línea, part of the country’s bold and futuristic NEOM project, was due to house around 1.5 million residents by the end of the decade.
Now, according to people familiar with the project, the development will only extend 1.5 miles and will be home to fewer than 300,000 residents by 2030.
As a result of The Line’s construction slowdown, at least one contractor has begun laying off the workers it employs at the site, Bloomberg reports.
Stunning concept images released by the kingdom in 2022 showed a vast mirrored structure spanning the desert near the crystal-clear waters of the ocean.
Saudi Arabia has reportedly been forced to scale back its $1.5 trillion plans for a 106-mile linear desert city (in concept images), in a humiliating decision for the kingdom.
La Línea, part of the country’s bold and futuristic NEOM project, was due to house 1.5 million residents by the end of the decade.
It is one of several developments that form the country’s NEOM project, which also includes an industrial city, ports and tourism developments.
But The Line was the jewel of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s Vision 2030 project, which was launched to diversify his country’s oil-dependent economy, as well as its society and culture, and improve its image on the world stage.
The Kingdom said the project, expected to cost $1.5 trillion, would be an “unprecedented living experience” that preserves the “surrounding nature.”
The megacity would feature two parallel skyscrapers stretching across a strip of desert and mountainous terrain, with mirrored facades on the outside.
Saudi officials said it would be built in stages and would eventually cover a 106-mile stretch of desert along the Red Sea coast in the western province of Tabuk.
However, Bloomberg reports that these plans have now been drastically scaled back: the 106-mile structure has been reduced to just 1.5 miles.
It’s unclear if it will continue to feature the twin skyscrapers seen in the concept images or if the entire project will have to be reconsidered.
Citing its sources, the publication reports that Saudi Arabia has not yet approved NEOM’s 2024 budget and that its huge spending is starting to worry officials.
Some projects outlined in Vision 2030 are already expected to be delayed beyond the end of the decade, with Finance Minister Mohammed Al Jadaan saying in December that more time is needed to “build factories” and “sufficient human resources.”
“The delay or rather the extension of some projects will benefit the economy,” he stated.
NEOM was first announced in 2017, and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (pictured) gave a presentation on The Line in July 2022.
NEOM was first announced in 2017, and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman gave a presentation on The Line in July 2022.
It has consistently drawn attention for proposed flourishes such as flying taxis and robot maids, even as architects and economists have questioned their feasibility.
Just 200 meters wide, The Line is intended to be Saudi Arabia’s answer to wasteful, uncontrolled urban sprawl, layering homes, schools and parks in what planners call “Zero Gravity Urbanism.”
Promotional material says residents will have “all daily necessities” accessible within a five-minute walk, while also having access to other benefits such as outdoor ski facilities and “a high-speed train with one-end transit to another 20 minutes”.
In his presentation, Prince Mohammed outlined an even more ambitious vision, describing a car-free utopia that would become the most liveable city on the planet.
However, analysts noted at the time that plans for NEOM have changed course over the years, raising questions about whether The Line will ever become a reality.
Pictured: Concept art showing the interior of Saudi Arabia’s The Line megacity.
Just 200 meters wide, The Line is intended to be Saudi Arabia’s answer to wasteful, uncontrolled urban sprawl, layering homes, schools and parks in what planners call “Zero Gravity Urbanism.”
The Line’s vast construction would stretch from the heart of another planned megacity on the Red Sea, a mainstay of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s bid to diversify the Gulf state’s oil-dependent economy, to the ocean.
NEOM was once touted as a regional ‘Silicon Valley,’ a biotech and digital hub spread over 10,000 square miles.
It is now a vehicle to reimagine urban life on an area of just 34 square kilometers and address what Prince Mohammed describes as “environmental and liveability crises.”
“The concept has transformed so much since its initial conception that it is sometimes difficult to determine its direction: reduce it, increase it or take an aggressive turn to the side,” said Robert Mogielnicki of the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington, after the presentation in 2022.
Officials had previously said NEOM’s population would exceed one million, but Prince Mohammed said the figure would actually reach 1.2 million in 2030 before rising to nine million in 2045.
In a promotional video released by the Kingdom, it was suggested that nine million people could live on The Line at full capacity.
The staggering total is part of an expected nationwide population boom that Prince Mohammed said would be necessary to turn Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest oil exporter, into an economic power.
The goal for 2030 is for 50 million people – half Saudi and half foreigners – to live in the kingdom, up from about 34 million today.
By 2040, the goal is 100 million people, he said, in 2022.
‘That is the main objective of building NEOM, to increase the capacity of Saudi Arabia, to get more citizens and more people in Saudi Arabia. And if we do it from scratch, why should we copy normal cities?
The site will run on 100 percent renewable energy and feature “a year-round temperate microclimate with natural ventilation,” the promotional video said.
Residents of the project were to have access to “all daily necessities” within a five-minute walk, while also having access to other benefits such as outdoor ski facilities and “a high-speed train with end-to-end transit.” another 20 minutes”. ‘
In a promotional video released by the Kingdom, it was suggested that nine million people could live on The Line (pictured in concept art) at full capacity.
The viability of the project was in doubt for a long time.
Architect and urban planner Etienne Bou-Abdo said of the concept images last year: “the 3D images presented are not classic 3D architectural images,” and the project’s designers “have rather turned to video game designers.”
He stated that the plan includes “a lot of technology that we don’t have today.”
Several of The Line’s key features, particularly those related to energy and transportation, are based on technologies that do not exist even in prototype form.