Saudi Arabia to Shorten the Length of the Straight City from 170 km to 2.4 km with a Capacity of Only 300,000 Residents.
Saudi Arabia is adjusting its plans for the ambitious NEOM project. This desert development project plays a crucial role in Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman’s strategy to help Saudi Arabia reduce its dependence on oil exports. However, the 2024 budget for the project has yet to be approved, Interesting Engineering reported on April 11.
The full mirror facade design of The Line straight city. (Photo: NEOM)
The NEOM Megacity will consist of 10 regions, including the floating port city of Oxagon and the Trojena ski resort. However, the most talked-about part of the project is The Line, a 170 km long straight city. The project includes two skyscrapers that will stand parallel, taller than the Empire State Building upon completion. The mirrored facade of the buildings will help the structure blend into the arid environment. The entire city will be located between these buildings.
According to the plan, The Line city is expected to accommodate 1.5 million people by the end of the decade. This futuristic city aims for self-sufficiency with food production facilities and high-speed transportation. However, according to a source familiar with the project shared with Bloomberg, the plan for the city is shrinking in scale, from 170 km down to just 2.4 km by the time construction begins in 2030. Consequently, the city’s capacity will also decrease to 300,000 residents.
The project will still be completed in the future but on a longer timeline. The impact of these decisions is already evident, with at least one contractor having laid off workers at the construction site.
The estimated cost for the NEOM megacity project is around $1.5 trillion. Funding for the project mainly comes from the Public Investment Fund (PIF), overseen by the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia. The scaling down of The Line reveals the financial realities of the project. The fund’s cash reserves have dropped to $15 billion as of September last year, the lowest level since 2020.
Authorities have stated that other aspects of the NEOM project are continuing as planned. The luxury island for tourists, Sindalah, is expected to open this year. The plans to host the Winter Olympics in Trojena in 2029 have also not been scrapped. The NEOM project is also designed to serve as a testing ground for new technologies. PIF has allocated over $8 billion to construct solar and wind farms in the region, aimed at producing green hydrogen to replace fossil fuels as Saudi Arabia seeks to reduce oil exports and diversify its economy.
