In the Saudi desert, you know, a mirage is taking shape. It's not the kind of mirage that fools the eyes of thirsty travelers, though. No. It is a mirage of steel and glass, an urban dream so audacious that it makes Las Vegas seem like a provincial suburb. I'm talking about The Line, the linear city that was supposed to redefine the very concept of metropolis. Two enormous parallel skyscrapers that stretch for 170 kilometers, a high-tech ribbon that cuts through the sand like a wound of progress. Here, in this hyper-connected and sustainable paradise, 1,5 million residents were expected to live and work by 2030. At least, that was the plan.
Even the brightest dreams have to be reckoned with. And so, as construction progresses slowly and budgets are revised, demographic projections also begin to deflate. Now, the Kingdom predicts that only 300.000 lucky resident subjects will populate “the line” by the fateful 2030. A mirage that dissolves in the sands of time? Or perhaps just a reminder that even the boldest visions must bend to the laws of physics and finance. The future is always a construction site under construction, but delivery times cannot always be decided. And U.S? What can we do. We can sing you a song. Or tell you everything one brick at a time.
From visionary dream to scaled-down reality
When The Line project was first presented in 2021, the ambitions were nothing short of majestic. This linear city, which was supposed to connect the Red Sea coast with the north-west of Saudi Arabia, was conceived to host between 1 million and 1,5 million people by 2030. A sustainable and hyper-technological metropolis of the future , which would have redefined the very concept of urbanization. Now, three years later, the perspectives are different. Saudi officials predict that The Line will house more than 80% fewer residents than initial targets.
And it's not just the number of residents that is being downsized. Of the total 170 kilometers planned for The Line, only 2,4 will be completed by 2030. A document viewed by the Bloomberg news agency also revealed that at least one of The Line's contractors has begun laying off some of the workers employed at the site. The reason for this downsizing? According to the source, Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund has not yet approved Neom's budget for 2024. And it is looking for new sources of money to finance the project.
Criticisms and controversies
The Line, which is part of the larger Neom project, a complex of ten regions covering 26.500 square kilometers in northwest Saudi Arabia, has not been free from criticism and controversy. In 2022, the human rights organization ALQST had reported that three men had been sentenced to death after being “forcibly evicted” from the Neom site. Last year, the United Nations Human Rights Council expressed "alarm" over the impending executions. Saudi Arabia responded by denying that any abuse had occurred.
The downsizing of The Line, Neom's flagship, raises questions about the future of this unprecedented urban vision. Will Saudi Arabia be able to turn this desert mirage into a concrete reality? Or will everything turn out to be yet another very expensive dream evaporated in the sun?
Few or many residents, the future is a vision
Despite the difficulties and controversies, the Saudis assure, the Neom project is moving forward. In addition to The Line, the complex will include the floating port city Oxagon, designed by the Danish studio BIG, the ski resort Troyena and the luxury resort Sindalah, which is expected to be the first region to be completed and open to guests this year. Will it be? Only time will tell. In the meantime, The Line remains a symbol of the ambitions and contradictions of a country trying to project itself into the future, between dreams of greatness and challenges to face.
Whether it has 1,5 million or 300.000 residents, whether it spans 170 kilometers or just 2,4, The Line will continue to be talked about. Because it represents a vision, an idea of the future, which goes beyond numbers and figures. And in a world increasingly thirsty for innovation and hope, even mirages can have value. Even if perhaps no one will be able to afford them.
