Saudi Arabia has ordered a major review of its flagship Neom development, signalling a significant retreat from one of the most ambitious urban projects ever conceived. The futuristic megacity on the Red Sea, championed by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman as a cornerstone of his economic transformation agenda, has already consumed billions of dollars and is now likely to be scaled back amid delays, cost overruns and budgetary strain.
Neom was envisioned as a sprawling high-tech region anchored by The Line, a pair of mirror-clad skyscrapers stretching 200 kilometres across the desert and rising half a kilometre into the sky. The plan called for the city to be built in two-kilometre segments, creating the illusion of a single continuous structure, with a projected cost of around $500 billion and a target completion date of 2030. From its launch, the project drew scepticism from architects, economists and environmental experts, who questioned both its feasibility and its purpose.
According to sources familiar with the matter, Prince Mohammed has grown increasingly frustrated by repeated delays across Neom and other so-called giga-projects. He has now instructed officials to reassess the development, with the likelihood that its focus will shift toward more achievable goals, including artificial intelligence infrastructure and data centres. The review is still under way, and it remains unclear whether The Line will survive in a reduced form or be abandoned altogether.
The prince has long argued that The Line could address the future needs of Saudi Arabia’s growing population of 35 million, easing pressure on cities such as Riyadh, which continues to expand deep into the desert. His strategy, according to people close to the project, was to set extraordinarily high targets in the hope that even partial success would produce transformative results. However, a slump in oil prices and successive budget deficits have forced the government and the sovereign Public Investment Fund to reconsider the scale of spending, with The Line alone projected to cost hundreds of billions of dollars.
Neom was designed as a collection of headline-grabbing projects beyond The Line. These included Trojena, a mountain resort featuring artificial snow and ski slopes, which was selected to host the 2029 Asian Winter Games. That ambition is now in doubt, with Trojena running behind schedule and no longer expected to be ready in time. Another centrepiece was Oxagon, an octagonal floating industrial hub intended to anchor advanced manufacturing and logistics.
So far, the only completed element of Neom is Sindalah, a luxury yachting resort on the Red Sea. Its launch last year was widely viewed as a failure, despite a lavish opening party featuring international celebrities. As reported by Times UK, Prince Mohammed was unimpressed by the cost and execution of the resort, a reaction that led to the dismissal of Neom’s chief executive, Nadhmi al-Nasr. The event, which involved dozens of private yachts, became emblematic of concerns that the project’s spending had spiralled out of control.
The reassessment of Neom comes as Saudi Arabia increasingly pivots toward artificial intelligence as a strategic priority. The Public Investment Fund, which oversees Neom and much of the kingdom’s economic reform programme, has stepped up investment in AI data centres, aiming to position Saudi Arabia as a regional technology leader in competition with the United Arab Emirates.
These economic ambitions have unfolded alongside sweeping social changes. Under Prince Mohammed, the kingdom has curbed the power of the religious police, relaxed strict social codes and granted women the right to drive, reforms that have won him significant support among younger Saudis. At the same time, his rule has drawn sharp criticism from human rights groups over a crackdown on dissent, with some critics receiving lengthy prison sentences for online posts.
The decision to rein in Neom underscores the limits of Saudi Arabia’s breakneck reinvention. While the crown prince remains committed to transforming the oil-dependent economy, the recalibration of its most extravagant project suggests a recognition that vision alone cannot overcome financial and practical constraints.
