Saudi Arabia's futuristic mega-city faces setbacks, leadership shake-up

In its article, Middle East Eye unveils that Saudi Arabia's ambitious Neom mega-project, including the futuristic city of The Line, continues to push forward despite facing significant challenges. 

Nadhmi al-Nasr, an Aramco veteran who had led the initiative since 2018, was dismissed following a series of negative headlines. These began with reports in March stating that Neom’s flagship project, The Line—a 170km-long, 500m-high, and 200m-wide linear city—would only span 5km by its planned 2030 opening. Additional reports highlighted a toxic work environment, exorbitant salaries for senior foreign staff, and the deaths of hundreds, if not thousands, of laborers during construction, even though work has yet to progress beyond the foundation stage. Low oil prices have also impacted the project’s timeline.

Nasr's removal served as a scapegoat, but his successor, Aiman al-Mudaifer, the head of Neom’s local real estate division, now faces the task of assuring global investors—particularly Chinese financiers courted by Neom’s parent company, the Public Investment Fund (PIF)—that The Line will move forward as planned.

The Line is not the only venture within Neom. A collection of 12 ultra-luxurious resorts along the Gulf of Aqaba are in the early construction phase. Each boasts elaborate, sci-fi-inspired names like Xaynor, Zardun, and Siranna, but are collectively branded as Magna. High-profile global architects have been hired to design these resorts.

In contrast to Neom's more unconventional projects, there are initiatives that fall more within the bounds of tradition and practicality. These include the Sindalah resort island, set to welcome tourists next year, the industrial city of Oxagon, which will focus on trendy industries like green hydrogen, and the Trojena mountain resort, slated to host the 2029 Asian Winter Games.

However, it is The Line that has become the defining symbol of Saudi Arabia’s broader Vision 2030 plan—a strategy aimed at transforming the country from a closed, conservative society into a hub for tech moguls and the global ultra-wealthy. It’s particularly telling that Yasir Al-Rumayyan, the governor of the Public Investment Fund (PIF), was recently seen conversing with US President-elect Donald Trump and Elon Musk at a UFC event in New York.

As news broke of Neom's new acting CEO, the leaders of The Line took the stage for a highly orchestrated discussion at a real estate exhibition in Riyadh on November 12. They presented their vision of a groundbreaking city designed for nine million people—a model for future human society. However, their pitch resembled a dystopian outlook, depicting life enclosed within a vast glass structure, isolated from a seemingly inhospitable world—reminiscent of Logan's Run.

Inspired by Manhattan, one of the first linear cities, the concept behind The Line was to arrange communities along either side of a Central Park-like area, stacking them into two long walls that would enclose an open public space stretching the entire length of the city.

The concept of creating a city along a green corridor is credited to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and top global architects, including Peter Cook of Cook Haffner Architecture Platform, the lead designer, have eagerly embraced it.

Tarek Qaddumi, the executive director of The Line’s design, argues that the city will address the challenges of modern urban living. 

Ian Mulcahey, principal strategy director for urban design at Gensler, a newly appointed US architecture firm, described the project as a milestone in human creativity. 

The city's planners are meticulously analyzing human behavior to shape the design, which, from the outside, resembles a vast, elongated mirror reflecting the surrounding sands and mountains.

By Naila Huseynova