In recent years Saudi Arabia is working on a huge infrastructure project that its leader, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (or MBS), hopes to transform the kingdom and its relations with the outside world. The Neom Project is a series of construction projects currently under construction in the Tabuk region of the country. Saudi leaders hope the project will attract foreign visitors while contributing to the modernization of the country through innovative technological developments and applications.
The most important of the development projects associated with Neom is The line, a planned 105-mile-long city that will run along the coast of the Dead Sea. The city, which developers originally predicted could accommodate up to 9 million people by 2030, is currently under construction. Floor the project was officially failed Two years ago and since then, the Saudis have been struggling to build their massive metropolis, which is estimated to cost up to $500 billion.
The designs for this city are intense, vast, and seem almost impossible to realize. The line itself is expected to be built higher than the Empire State Building over the desert. At the same time, the entire length of this structure is supported by a gigantic mirror facade that will extend the entire length. In addition, the city will have no cars or roads and will instead rely on a comprehensive rail system so that residents can live in an environmentally friendly environment.
“The designs unveiled today for the city’s vertically layered communities will challenge traditional flat, horizontal cities and create a model for nature conservation and an improved quality of life for people,” said Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said in 2022, when the project was originally announced.
While developers have expressed that they hope to have much of the Neom project completed by 2039, things haven’t been going so smoothly recently. The wildly ambitious sci-fi dreams that animated the project seem to be dying, being replaced by more realistic plans. Here’s what happened to the project in recent months as the Saudis struggled to move forward with their faltering new desert metropolis.
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