Neom: Saudi Arabia’s ‘line’ now only a mile and a half

Saudi Arabia’s massive future project ‘The Line’ has reportedly been shortened by 98.6% cradle the report said.

According to the report Bloomberg, The $500 billion Neom linear city is shrinking to 2.4 kilometers and fewer than 30,000 residents.

Previously, as part of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s (MBS) Vision 2030, the line was planned to cover an area of ​​170 kilometers and accommodate at least 1.5 million people.

However, as the report states, MBS has decided to downsize the massive project due to financial constraints.

After the project was announced, MBS described the urban project as “addressing the challenges that humans face today in urban living” to “reveal alternative ways of living”.

“The Line’s divestment comes as the Saudi sovereign wealth fund has yet to approve Neom’s 2024 budget,” Bloomberg wrote, citing unnamed sources familiar with the matter.

“This suggests that the financial realities of trillions of dollars of investment are beginning to cause concern at the highest levels of the Saudi government as it attempts to deliver on its ambitious Vision 2030 plan to diversify the Saudi economy.”

Saudi Arabia’s Neom The Line development project has also raised strong human rights concerns as it will require the Howeitat tribe to be evicted from their land in the Tabuk region.