Progress on the Oxagon, Sindalah, and the 110-mile-long The Line centerpiece developments in Saudi Arabia’s NEOM megaproject has been documented in a new update released this week.
Aerial photos combined with drone footage displaying their construction progress surfaced on NEOM social media accounts with a note about its tangibility to naysayers skeptical of the $500 billion vision of the country's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
Video: NEOM/YouTube
It follows previous video updates from January and October of 2023. Since then, several additional developments (including Leyja, Epicon, Aquellum, and Siranna) have been announced.
The first construction phases will reportedly be completed by 2030, with the British firm Atkins retained to oversee delivery of The Line, which is by far its largest and most technically challenging portion.
Around 60,000 workers are reported to be on each construction site combined. The Saudi state has spent $5.6 billion in on-site temporary housing for workers at every location. Bechtel is also on the ground at work, delivering the base infrastructure plan for NEOM.
The entire project is scheduled to culminate by 2045, with an anticipated nine million residents included in the total 10,200-square-mile scheme.
More updates from NEOM are likely to follow as the plan unfurls.
7 Comments
I wonder how the energy cals are configured and what the new tech and materials are. It is doing something different than nature which spreads organically at its best. This one is a three-dimensional linear city, a horizontal skyscraper* for the one-dimensional man would be harsh but it is a capsulated life running north and south.
So far, I have mostly seen high-end lifestyle real estate ads coming from boutique thinking designers and they are not inside the Line even though they use the brand name. It is a kind of "how do they do that" show right now. I think they have to deliver the first sales to keep it going. I'd say, we'll see some segments finished soon to keep our interest. My wish is to see at least 10 miles of controlled ecosystem to see its performance.
But definitely, I am interested. Photos of grading, foundation activity, and the water channel are fascinating. A little reminder of the Apple headquarters construction site unfurled and supersized.
We all directly or indirectly play a role in it as we consume fossil fuels and byproducts.
Ok, I talked about it a little but if you prefer you can insert an emoji...
* from World Trade Center Compitition and combinatory urbanism, Thom Mayne.
You know, if you see this as an infrastructure project - which it is, with the crazy architecture just appendages to main infrastructural spine - then its just another civil project, albeit a very big one.
IF YOU LOOK HARD ENOUGH, YOU CAN PROBABLY SEE THE POOR TRIBAL PEOPLE WHO WERE KILLED BY NEOM SECURITY FORCES FOR OPPOSING THE BUILDING ON INDIGENEOUS LAND.
"This visage, no mere veneer of vanity, is a vestige of the vox populi, now vacant, vanished."
You may even spot Mr. Khashoggi. Not his field, but I wonder what he might have written about this project.
We should start a pool for how many billions the project will overrun and exceed expected cost. The money could be invested. Someone in 2045 (2050? 2055?) should walk away with a tidy sum.
Actually there is a point in this. Has there ever been a project of this complexity and expense and magnitude? So much could go wrong that can't be anticipated, especially in a project so dependent on extensive, sophisticated technology, that will take decades to build. Unanticipated complications, material shortages, price hikes, etc., technology upgrades, overhauls, maintenance costs, how these might affect purchase prices or rental of the residential units. At some point you have to think the unknown, which could be vast here, would lead to caution.
Will it lead to state subsidies and massive state expenditure? What on earth is the business model?
And someone will have to create a social model for a large number of people from scratch. Why should we have any confidence here?
This could be Musk’s future city on Mars.
Imagine every penny spent on this going to equipping the region to move beyond fossil feuls? This is the greatest folly concieved and never to be built.
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