NEOM - The Line

[Guest]

https://lightorigin.com

[3I/ATLAS]

Well, out of all surviving Neom's projects, there is only one I really want to visit in the future: Trojena. The rest seems to me to be just another boring resorts, although very luxurious and top quality - but not much different from what can be found elsewhere, often for better price/benefits. Here, seaside projects are mostly isolated from the rest of the country like some tourist sanctuaries. I'm afraid that it will be very hard to compete with Dubai and even opposite shore of Egypt, with whats left of NEOM. I'm curious what will The Line redesign look like, but my expectations are rather low now. No "big" money, no glory.

Yes, Trojena still feels like the one thing that’s actually interesting, even with all that’s gone down. Dropping the winter games makes it feel a bit scaled back, but I don’t see it as the end, maybe just trying to be more realistic. With Aiman al-Mudaifer’s review happening, I’m just waiting to see how that plays out. That said, the rest of NEOM is definitely harder to get excited about, especially when the competition in the region is already so strong.

[Guest]

Well, out of all surviving Neom's projects, there is only one I really want to visit in the future: Trojena. The rest seems to me to be just another boring resorts, although very luxurious and top quality - but not much different from what can be found elsewhere, often for better price/benefits. Here, seaside projects are mostly isolated from the rest of the country like some tourist sanctuaries. I'm afraid that it will be very hard to compete with Dubai and even opposite shore of Egypt, with whats left of NEOM. I'm curious what will The Line redesign look like, but my expectations are rather low now. No "big" money, no glory.

[Brico]

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s flagship project Neom is set to be significantly downscaled and redesigned as a review of the massive development nears completion after years of delays and budget overruns.

The year-long review is expected to conclude by the end of the first quarter of this year or shortly after.

The person briefed on the matter said architects were already working on redesigning The Line — which has already been scaled back considerably — to develop a more “modest” project that could utilise existing infrastructure built over the past few years.

“The Line will be a totally different concept. It will use the existing infrastructure in a totally different manner,” the person said.

The person said there would be a greater focus on “industrial” sectors in Neom, including it becoming a hub for data centres.

Source: https://www.ft.com/content/036b158f-ea34-46d1-ad0a-093eba031501

[Guest]

[Guest]

It appears that the COO of The Line has been reassigned to the role of COO/Head of Trojena back in August.

[Guest]

While Neom employees say that much of The Line might still be technically buildable, they are not convinced anyone is ready to pay for it. Construction work across Neom has slowed, with the desert ski resort Trojena, the intended venue for the 2029 Asian Winter Games, one of the few sites still moving ahead at pace. Neom says that the attention has now moved to “the complex engineering and detailed design work associated with the first phase” of The Line. But one former employee has said that everyone knows the project won’t work; it is now just a matter of letting MBS down gently.

Based on interviews with more than 20 people who worked on The Line — from architects to engineers and former senior executives — this is the inside account of how MBS’s dream was designed and undone by the laws of physics and finance. All requested anonymity, fearing legal repercussions. Together, their stories trace one of the boldest urban experiments in modern history — an attempt to build a metropolis from scratch, unconstrained by geography or precedent — that is now in danger of joining the ranks of the world’s grandest follies.

To meet the 2030 deadline, construction work needed to start quickly. Piling began in the spring of 2022, even though detailed design for the actual building had yet to be done. To cope with the uncertainty, the design team maximised the size, making the piles 2.5 to 3 metres in diameter. “Some of these piles are the biggest in the world; they’re absolutely colossal,” said a construction specialist who worked on The Line.

On site, 60 piling rigs worked around the clock, putting in 60 to 65 piles a day. About 6,000 of them were drilled into the ground, stretching across 2km of desert. The foundation work cost several billion dollars. “I clearly only did what I thought was sensible,” said the senior construction manager.

But even as this work was being done, plans for The Line were being scaled back. Neom’s owner, the Public Investment Fund, the near-$1tn sovereign wealth fund chaired by Prince Mohammed and tasked with spearheading his development plans, was coming under increasing pressure to deliver returns after a years-long spending splurge. In tandem, a mood of realism was taking hold in Riyadh as the government sought to manage its resources as oil prices softened, leading to reprioritisation of its — and the PIF’s — vast financial commitments.

The Line’s 20 modules dropped to 12, then seven, then four. At the end of 2023 it dropped to three. “When it dropped to three,” said the senior construction manager, “those 6,000 piles are no use at all. Not yet. It was a classic result of trying to run before you could walk.”

Yet a “critical mass” of planned inhabitants was also needed to make the project attractive to external investors. This was estimated to be 300,000 and 500,000 people, or seven modules. “As you went below seven, it started becoming ever more difficult to sell it as an investment,” the senior construction manager said. “[That is] why I think it has died . . . it’s just uninvestable.”

https://ig.ft.com/saudi-neom-line/

[TerraCotta]

Saudi Arabia pauses its $2trillion gigaproject vision with 100-mile mega-city The Line shortened to a few miles after Riyadh 'spent too much' amid falling oil prices

One official admitted at an investment forum in the capital last week: 'We spent too much. We rushed at 100mph. We are now running deficits. We need to re-prioritise'.

One of the most drastic examples of conservatism in Vision 2030 is The Line. Initially imagined to be 110 miles long and 1,600ft tall, the linear settlement was designed to have no cars, streets or net carbon emissions.

But the project has now been massively scaled back, only set to be a few miles long.

Inzerillo admitted The Line 'might more accurately have been positioned as a laboratory of what quality of life might look like in 2040'.

It is now set to house just 300,000 people.

Source: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-15252523/Saudi-Arabia-pauses-2trillion-gigaproject-vision-100-mile-mega-city-Line-shortened-miles-Riyadh-spent-amid-falling-oil-prices.html#

[TerraCotta]

Exclusive: Saudi Arabia plans to refocus $925 billion fund after gigaproject delays, source says

Saudi Arabia is preparing to shift its $925 billion sovereign wealth fund away from a focus on real estate gigaprojects that have dominated its development goals for the last decade, a source with direct knowledge of the plans told Reuters.

The original strategy included developments such as NEOM, a futuristic city in the desert by the Red Sea, and a plan to host international winter sports in the kingdom's northern mountains, with ski slopes largely using manmade snow.

NEOM, with a projected population of 9 million, and other projects have faced repeated delays.

The repositioning comes as pressure mounts on PIF and its portfolio companies to generate better returns in the near term, the source said.

Analysts have said many of the gigaprojects have not yet yielded sufficient returns to justify their lofty price tags, as several remain far from completion, while other PIF investments have had a mixed track record.

PIF's current five-year investment strategy ends this year and the fund is expected to unveil an updated strategy soon that will detail its new priorities, a banking source told Reuters.

Some projects tied to global events are already delayed, most notably Trojena, which is scheduled to host the 2029 Asian Winter Games. Saudi officials are considering postponing the kingdom's hosting of the games until 2033, according to sources.

Work on NEOM's "The Line" - billed as an indoor city 170 kilometres long and 200 metres wide - has been scaled back to focus on completing a 2.4 km stretch to include a World Cup stadium.

Source: https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/saudi-arabia-plans-refocus-925-billion-fund-after-gigaproject-delays-source-says-2025-10-29/

[mrg]

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/iban-mas-3517615b_is-it-a-dream-or-a-reality-am-i-activity-7384001889299849216-Ibth