NEOM's "The Line" Project Delayed Beyond 2030 Amid Major Cutbacks

Saudi Arabia has reportedly scaled back its ambitious plans for "The Line" project in NEOM, drastically reducing initial construction targets, with the project's completion now expected to extend beyond 2030 instead of the original timeline.

Reports indicated a significant downsizing in the project's scale compared to initial ambitions. While "The Line" was originally intended to house up to 1.5 million people across two parallel buildings 500 meters high and spanning 170 kilometers, timelines and population targets have reportedly undergone substantial revisions.

These revisions come in the context of economic challenges facing Saudi Arabia, including pressures from lower oil prices and the need to reprioritize spending within Vision 2030 initiatives, forcing the Public Investment Fund to delay a number of giga-projects.

This pullback represents a strategic rethink of one of the world's largest urban infrastructure projects, raising serious questions about the timelines of several other major Vision 2030 projects in a more conservative financial environment.