The grand ambitions of NEOM, the futuristic city-building initiative launched in 2017 by Saudi Arabia’s crown prince Mohammed Bin Salman, are being dramatically tempered. On April 5, Bloomberg reported that the first phase of The Line, a 106-mile-long “linear city” stretching inland from the Red Sea’s coast, will be just 1.5 miles long by its expected completion date of 2030. While the original planned length of the initial phase is not entirely clear, 1.5 miles represents a far more modest figure than what was envisioned to be completed within the next six years. According to an anonymous source “familiar with the matter” and official documents relating to the project, this reduction in scale comes as the Saudi government, facing dropping cash reserves, stalls on the approval of NEOM’s 2024 budget. The NEOM project in its entirety, including The Line and associated resort and city-building efforts in the region, is estimated to cost $1.5 trillion.
The Line was originally pitched as an environmental utopia, embodying the NEOM-coined principle “Zero Gravity Urbanism.” Within the city’s sky-high mirrored walls, spanning 600 feet wide, spaces for living, working, and recreation would be layered vertically, “creating “never-before-seen efficiencies in city functions,” according to early promotional material. The experimental desert settlement would also be car-free, connected end-to-end via high-speed rail, and powered by 100 percent renewable energy. Architecture firms associated with the project have included Morphosis (which designed The Line's initial concept), Cook Haffner Architecture Platform, Pei Cobb Freed & Partners, HOK, LAVA, and OMA.
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