Saudi Arabia Has Released New Images To Silence Neom Project Doubters

Nearly seven years ago, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud launched a visionary project that could reshape the future—Neom. It is a vast 10,200-square-mile (26,500 sq km) megacity along the northern Red Sea with a $1.5 trillion budget.

Neom is going to be an incredible feat of contemporary engineering and design, combining a variety of regions, each with its distinct function and characteristics. One of the most talked-about features of Neom is The Line, a linear city that would span the desert and house nine million people. It will be 105 miles long, 660 feet wide, and 1,600 feet tall. The One World Trade Centre in New York City, which is 1,776 feet (541 meters) tall, is about the height of The Line. The project aims to build The as a self-contained city where people can travel from one end to the other in 20 minutes via high-speed rail.

There has been general skepticism despite the scale of these plans. Conflicting information has made it impossible to verify the project’s exact status, however, reports imply that it may have been scaled back. To reassure the public and investors that Neom is moving forward according to plan, MBS established the “Ground X” program in response to these doubts. According to reports, Ground X has almost two million images and live cameras of the construction sites, but only vendors and investors are allowed access.

Giles Pendleton, Chief Operating Officer of The Line at Neom, has been actively countering negative reports with updates on LinkedIn. In his posts, Pendleton stated, “Lots of work visible across NEOM as camps emerge and infrastructure excavations are starting to show the true scale of activities.” He also shared a video showcasing the scale of the construction, where even the largest excavators and dump trucks appear tiny against the backdrop of The Line’s massive construction site.

“The masterplan for the LINE remains at 170 km as we have always spoken about, and we have always maintained it will be built in phases. Nothing has changed,” Pendleton added.

The Line is but a small portion of Neom’s massive development. Trojena, a hilly area of Neom, with heights ranging from 4,921 feet (1,500 m) to 8,530 feet (2,600 m), is slated to develop into a world-class ski resort. Despite its desert surroundings, Trojena boasts three months of skiing annually, more than 3,600 hotel rooms, an amphitheater, retail stores, and dining alternatives.

Another Neom location, Sindalah, will be a posh island resort and yacht club with top-notch dining and shopping opportunities beside the Red Sea. Oxagon is a strategically located floating port with fully renewable energy-powered offices and industry. Magna, a coastal wildlife sanctuary, will have 12 luxurious tourism locations along its 120 km (75 mile) shoreline.

Leyja, Epicon, Siranna, Utamo, and many more locations are included in the Neom vision; they are all intended to “inspire, relax, create, find harmony with nature, stimulate your senses, recharge, discover, escape, transcend, adventure.” The language used in Neom’s advertising campaigns strongly suggests a utopian future, but it also subtly refers to the huge amounts of money needed to bring this vision to life.

Aquellum, a “subterranean digitalized community of the future” that will be “encased within a mountain” along the Red Sea coast, is one of Neom’s most intriguing features, according to the Neom website. Visible from the exterior, Aquellum is a complex of hotels, residences, shops, entertainment areas, and innovative hubs that strive to combine architecture and nature.

If Neom is built, it might completely change what it means to live in an urban setting. The pictures are simply amazing. According to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Neom is scheduled to be completed by 2039.

Source: Neom