Declared the city of the future with glass walls, the ambitious centerpiece of the economic plan supported by Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Saudi Arabia’s transition from oil dependence.
Now, however, plans for the mirror-covered desert metropolis called the “Line” have been scaled back, and the project, originally intended to span 170 km, is expected to reach just 2km by 2030.
Conceived as a linear city that would eventually be home to around 9 million people on a surface of just 13 square miles, Line is part of the broader Neom project. At least one contractor has begun laying off workers.
Bloomberg reported on the scaling back of Prince Mohammed’s most grandiose project, citing documents related to the project.
The project, estimated to cost 1.5 trillion dollars, was pitched as a reinvention of urban design. However, it has long faced skepticism and criticism, even before reports surfaced of the execution of several members of the Howeitat tribe who protested against plans to build on their ancestors’ land. Reports then emerged of Prince Mohammed’s changing vision for the project, budget overruns, and constant turnover of key staff, with some working on the project describing it as “out of touch with reality.”
Furthermore the scaling back of “Line” comes as Neom’s overall budget for 2024 is yet to be approved by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund amid declining cash reserves.
Promotional presentations suggested something out of a science fiction novel as it enters the interior of the Tabuk Province from the mouth of the Gulf of Aqaba where it flows into the Red Sea.
The several hundred-meter-wide linear city was presented as the future of affordable urban planning, with amenities for residents within walking distance and districts connected by one of the world’s fastest trains.
Promotional material describes Line in almost mystical terms: a “cognitive city” and a “civilizational revolution” where amenities will be provided by artificial intelligence. Prince Mohammed, who has long been accused of involvement in the murder of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Istanbul in 2018, described the urban project as “confronting the challenges facing humanity in urban life” to “illuminate alternative ways of living.”
However, not everyone was convinced by the prince’s bright prospectus. Writing for The New York Times in 2021, when Neom released a video describing life within the silvered walls of the city, United States (U.S.) journalist and author Robert Worth said, “Watching the promotional video of the crown prince means being immersed in the Saudi form of arrogance, mixing religious triumphalism and royal grandiosity.”
And arrogance, evidently.
Photo: Neom
