Screenshot of the Bloomberg website
According to a new report from Bloomberg, a person familiar with the matter revealed that Saudi Arabia has scaled back its medium-term goals for the ambitious Desert City development project "NEOM". The core of the project, The Line, which was originally planned to accommodate 1.5 million residents by 2030, has been adjusted to accommodate less than 300,000 people.
NEOM is a cross-border urban development project in Saudi Arabia, located in the northwest of Saudi Arabia, covering an area of about 26,500 square kilometers, with a total investment of about 1.5 trillion US dollars. The project, led by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, hopes to create an architectural marvel as iconic and timeless as the Egyptian pyramids.
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman
Since the NEOM project was first announced in October 2017, Saudi Arabia has released more than 10 components of the project, including Morphosis, ZHA, BIG, Woods Bagot, LUCA DINI Design & Architecture, 10 Design, OMA, Killa Design, UNStudio, and Ricardo Bofill Taller de Arquitectura, MCA, LAVA Architecture, etc.
The Line 效果图 ©NEOM
The Line 效果图 ©NEOM
The "The Line" project, which has been reported to be downsized, has a total length of 170 kilometers, a width of 200 meters, and a height of 500 meters, with a mirrored façade. It spans three different regions: mountainous, coastal desert and upper valley, each with a different ecological environment, and each region can develop different projects according to environmental conditions.
In September 2022, a consortium composed of China State Construction Co., Ltd., FCC of Spain and SAJCO of Saudi Arabia signed a general contracting contract with Saudi Arabia for the construction of the pilot project of "The Line" - Saudi Arabia Traffic Tunnel Project. Since then, NEOM has released three construction site construction videos on its official platform to convey to the world that NEOM is really happening.
The Line工地现场 ©NEOM
The Line工地现场 ©NEOM
The Line was originally planned to welcome its first residents in 2024, demonstrating the Kingdom's vision and commitment to the future of urban living. However, financial pressures and practical challenges have led to a curtailment of the project, not only in terms of residential capacity, but also in terms of construction schedule.
Finance Minister Mohammed Al Jadaan said in December that the extension of some NEOM projects would serve the economy, hinting at the government's realistic considerations in terms of investment and timelines.
Bloomberg mentions that the Saudi Public Investment Fund is evaluating a range of options for raising cash, including accelerating bond sales and arranging share offerings from its portfolio companies, making the latest effort to narrow the scope of the project.
To be sure, work continues on other parts of the wider Neom project and the government has maintained The Line's overall objectives, people familiar with the matter said. Currently, there are about 60,000 workers on the NEOM series of construction sites, and the Saudi government has spent $5.6 billion to provide temporary on-site housing for workers everywhere.