NEOM is one of the most ambitious infrastructure projects in the world but looks like it may be dramatically scaled down [Getty]
The bill for Saudi Arabia’s NEOM mega-project has ballooned to a staggering $8.8 billion, according to reports.
A report delivered to the board of NEOM, a futuristic city situated in Saudi Arabia’s northwest, revealed it would also only be at its “end-state” by 2080, The Wall Street Journal reported.
The first phase could be completed in 2035 at $370 billion, but the overall cost of the project could be around 25 times the Saudi national budget.
It is hoped that private investors will fund the remainder of the mega-city, which could host a 170 kilometres-long linear sub-city, known as The Line, flying cars, and an artificial sky resort.
Much of the technology needed for The Line and NEOM is either decades from being developed, or according to some experts, impossible to realise.
The $8.8 billion price tag is a staggering rise from the previous $500 million projected cost of the project, which has suffered a series of setbacks.
Saudi authorities have now suggested that NEOM could take 100 years to complete, much longer than previously announced, comments from officials involved in the project suggest.
Bloomberg reported last year that The Line had been scaled down that only 2.4km of the intended 170km length would be constructed by 2030.
An intended population size of 1.5 million had also been reduced to 300,000. The reports prompted speculation of a general downgrading of the project, which was originally planned to be completed by 2045.
Saudi authorities still insist The Line will be an impressive 100km long when completed, and that this will be a landmark feature of NEOM, but this will take decades to complete
The Line and NEOM are central parts of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s ‘Vision 2030’, a series of social and economic projects that look to diversify the Saudi economy away from oil.
A Neom spokeswoman told the WSJ that the report was “incorrectly interpreting” and misrepresenting the figures, but did not provide further details.
