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Engineering Consultants Group (ECG) of Egypt has been awarded a contract to design five Saudi NEOM Construction Villages (NCV) spanning 1,647,000m2. ECG’s scope of work includes design review, data collection, masterplanning, concept design, the basis of design report, design development, detailed design, and IFC (Issued for Construction). Saudi Arabia’s Al Fanar Company is also associated with the project.

According to ECG, four out of the five villages cover an area of 798,000, and the fifth site covers an area of 849,000m2. The villages include residential facilities, combined facilities, utility buildings, and separate amenities for Saudi NEOM staff, contractors’ staff, and FM staff.

In September 2019, Saudi NEOM signed a partnership with Al-Tamimi Group and SATCO to finance, construct, and operate the financing, build and operate the Construction Village that will accommodate workers who will move to the site to develop various areas of the NEOM project.
Al-Tamimi Group had secured the contract to develop two residential areas within the village with a capacity to house 10,000 residents each. Meanwhile, SATCO was awarded a contract to build a third village with the same capacity. It was announced at that time that the two developers will operate the village for 10 years.

Saudi NEOM announced at the time that the construction village would consist of three residential areas for 30,000 residents and could be expanded later as the project develops to accommodate more than 100,000 residents.

Source: https://www.constructionweekonline.com/projects-tenders/egypt-engineering-consultants-group-to-design-saudi-neom-construction-village

NEOM, the highly anticipated futuristic region in northwest Saudi Arabia by the Red Sea that is currently being developed, has announced the opening of NEOM Media Village and Bajdah Desert Studios. Together the structures will be the Kingdom’s largest sound stages with extensive production facilities.

NEOM Media Village houses a sound stage at 2,400 sq m and has three more stages under construction. Bajdah Desert Studios has the largest stages with two at 3,000 sq m each with four becoming active at the end of 2022. One of the stages will be a highly developed volumetric production stage.

Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/joshwilson/2022/09/17/neom-to-house-saudi-arabias-largest-studio-with-an-industry-leading-production-incentive-scheme/?sh=279dd37e297a

This is interesting to watch - the video is completely positive press release but the commentary overlaid is that of every changing plans, massive overspending, employee dissatisfaction and no actual building taking place!

I wonder if this will ever come to fruition? It's a great idea but it does seem like a complete dream right now.

NEOM Company announced on Wednesday that Rayan bin Mohammed Fayez has joined the top management team at NEOM.

The company has experienced rapid growth and expansion since it started its delivery phase early last year, as the company spent the period prior to that focusing on preparing the detailed strategies for all sectors and projects.

Nadhmi Al-Nasr, CEO of NEOM, said: “NEOM is growing rapidly and development is happening very fast, as we work around the clock to deliver on all projects, especially after the launches of THE LINE, OXAGON and recently TROJENA. This requires sourcing more expert talent at all levels, including for the top management team, where all will collaborate to achieve NEOM’s vision, and to contribute to creating a better future for our coming generations”.

“NEOM decided to appoint Mr. Fayez as Deputy CEO, and his start date will be early next June,” Al-Nasr added.

Fayez is currently the Managing Director and CEO of Banque Saudi Fransi. He previously held the role of CEO of Savola Group. He sits on the boards of King Salman Park Foundation, Sports Boulevard Foundation and Alula Development Company among other boards and committees he serves.

Source: https://www.zawya.com/en/business/technology-and-telecom/saudis-neom-appoints-rayan-mohammed-fayez-as-deputy-ceo-x0n477jp

A quick look at some of the construction village facilities and the road into the complex at NEOM.

"Community 1" in the NEOM constuction village is now completed.

The new pre-built villas making their way to NEOM.

Saudi Arabia is all set to invite bids for the construction of residential cities dedicated for a total of 100,000 project workers within its futuristic $500-billion new city Neom on the Red Sea coast.

The government plans to offer five to 10 bids over the coming six months, reported Saudi Gazette. Each of these residential cities will have the capacity to accommodate around 10,000 workers.

Source: http://tradearabia.com/news/CONS_387394.html

Saudi Arabia’s NEOM is planning to launch its first hotel by the end of 2022, and it will open up to 15 hotels between 2023 and 2025, before ramping up the pace to reach 30 hotels annually.

Head of Tourism at NEOM Andrew McEvoy said that talks were held with big five brands, IHG, Hilton, Accor, and others.

Speaking to the media on the sidelines of the Arabian Travel Market 2021 held in Dubai, McEvoy added that the expected initial number of visitors next year ranges between 20,000 and 50,000, indicating that Neom is targeting about one million visitors by 2025, and 5 million by 2030. He revealed that ten of NEOM's 39 islands are being developed and will be delivered on time.

Source: https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/2984846/neom-launch-first-hotel-2022

Dr. Paul Marshall, Chief Environment Officer, explains how #NEOM? will be a model for sustainability and conservation. A commitment to continuous research and learning will ensure its many unique natural assets are conserved for future generations, with lessons learned being shared with the rest of the world.

Huge wind turbines delivered to NEOM construction site.

I was struck by the previous comment about lack of an overall masterplan and began searching for anything that might be a "realistic" overview of the project... there is really nothing out there.

This is from the official NEOM site in regards to their "tourism plans" - this is the whole text, everything from their tourism sector page. It doesn't have anything at all specific to say about resorts/amenities/master plan.

Futurism, sustainability and authenticity will be the key principles of NEOM’s approach to tourism, coupled with a multi-purpose offering where visitors and tourists can experience the tourism of tomorrow. By integrating innovation and developing cutting-edge principles for sustainability, NEOM will offer a futuristic experience that blends the past with the future.

As a region, NEOM is endowed with a rich cultural history, a cool climate, spectacular deserts, splendid reefs and beautiful mountains. This unrivalled natural beauty will be combined with a futuristic tourism model to draw visitors from all corners of the globe, and NEOM will be today a vision reflecting the tourism of tomorrow.

All of those things are available to tourists today. It already attracts tourists to its climate, history and geography. So what are they actually building or planning to build?

Source: https://www.neom.com/en-us/sector/tourism/

Neom Construction Village - I believe this is the place where the workers will be living and the initial stages of the project will take place from.

The Saudi “NEOM” company officially started its operations today from its new headquarters in the project site in the northwest of the Kingdom after the company obtained the approval of its board of directors to move the headquarters from Riyadh to the NEOM area. This step enhances the company’s workflow, coinciding with the acceleration of the project development and the start of construction work in many different areas within it.

More than 450 employees work from the new headquarters of the company, which is located 35 kilometers from Neom Bay Airport, and the number of employees will increase by the end of this year to reach 700 employees, with the readiness of the specially constructed residential area for them.

A number of mega projects have also been signed, such as the largest partnership contract of its kind with Air Products and ACWA Power, worth more than 18 billion riyals, to build the largest green hydrogen production facility in the world in NEOM in an environmentally friendly way, as well as awarding two contracts to AECOM and “ACOM” companies. Bechtel to design and manage one of the world’s largest infrastructure projects.

Source: https://www.saudi24news.com/2020/10/saudi-arabias-neom-strengthens-its-activities-with-this-step.html

Saudi Arabia’s futuristic city, Neom has announced that it has awarded a $35 million contract to Red Sea International for the design, build and facilities management of accommodation units, offices and all supporting building amenities within the giga-development.

Under the terms of the contract, scope of work will include comprehensive facility management and camp operations services including catering, housekeeping, laundry maintenance, medical, security and recreational services.

Located on the Red Sea cost, Neom is a $500 billion investment and part of the Kingdom’s Vision 2030, which aims to attract foreign investment and create jobs in an effort to reduce the kingdom’s dependence on oil. First phase of the giga-project will end in 2025, and the whole project is expected to be completed with a period of 30 to 50 years.

Source: https://meconstructionnews.com/43911/neom-awards-multiple-contracts-worth-35-million-to-red-sea-international

The creator of the previous video, Abdul Rahim al-Huwaiti, was killed in mid April and the controversy surrounding the changes to this area keeps growing.

The death of Abdul Rahim al-Huwaiti on 13 April highlighted the tension between the tribe and the kingdom’s development plans. A resident of the town of Khuraibat, he had become the face of the tribes’ criticism of their forced eviction, voicing complaints in videos posted to social media, and appearing in others’ videos. One piece of footage showed him confronting a Saudi official who visited the town to speak with residents.

Construction is ploughing ahead despite the challenges of the pandemic and the historic drop in the price of oil, Saudi’s primary export. The project is part of the crown prince’s flagship Vision 2030 project, intended to diversify the economy away from oil, which has sustained the kingdom since the early 20th century. Yet the funds required to see Neom realised will inevitably require oil wealth.

Yet part of the site is the home of the Huwaitat tribe, who have spanned Saudi Arabia, Jordan and the Sinai peninsula for generations, tracing their lineage back before the founding of the Saudi state. At least 20,000 members of the tribe now face eviction due to the project, with no information about where they will live in the future.

“For the Huwaitat tribe, Neom is being built on our blood, on our bones,” says Alia Hayel Aboutiyah al-Huwaiti, an outspoken activist and member of the tribe living in London. “It’s definitely not for the people already living there! It’s for tourists, people with money. But not for the original people living there.”

Example of the planned air taxi's on display.


Source: https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2020/may/04/its-being-built-on-our-blood-the-true-cost-of-saudi-arabia-5bn-mega-city-neom