Neom

In January 2021, the project unveiled plans for The Line, a linear city 170 kilometres (110 mi) long and 200 metres (660 ft) wide within the Neom area. The design for The Line was further modified in July 2022, scrapping the original idea for multiple buildings on a linear plan, instead combining the buildings into one continuous structure with an entirely glass mirror exterior.[24] The car-free city is planned to be large enough to house nine million residents within walkable communities, with all basic services within a five-minute walking distance.[2][25]

The development work of the project's first phase, Neom Bay, was planned to start in the first quarter of 2019 with completion by 2020.[26] The developments were to include constructing the airport at Sharma, which would operate regular commercial flights between Riyadh and Neom.[27] The plan of Neom Bay's developments also involves building the first residential area in Neom as part of Phase 1.[28]

In June 2019, it was announced that the Neom Bay Airport would begin commercial flight traffic after the first phase of the airport was completed with a runway length of 3,757 m (12,326 ft).[29][30][31] The planned airport has been registered by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) with the code NUM.[30]

Oxagon (originally named Neom Industrial City) will be a floating industrial complex in the shape of an octagon. It will be located around 25 kilometres (16 mi) north of the town of Duba, and covers roughly 200–250 square kilometres (77–97 sq mi) of land, of which approximately 40 square kilometres (15 sq mi) forms the city.[32] The project will focus on modern manufacturing, industrial research and development centered on expanding the Duba port.[33] Mohammed bin Salman expects Oxagon to become "a new focal point for global trade flows" and service shipping routes through the Red Sea.[34] The plans for the complex include a desalination plant, a hydrogen plant and an oceanographic research center.[35] It will also be home to the cognitive multinational company Tonomus (originally NEOM Tech & Digital Company), which is the first subsidiary company to evolve from NEOM.[36]

On December 16, 2022, Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources, the Saudi Authority for Industrial Cities and Technology Zones and Neom signed a memorandum of understanding to facilitate collaboration and legislation in support of Neom's Future Factories Program.[37]

As of January 2023, Neom has not provided any information regarding how the complex will remain afloat.

On 3 March 2022, Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman launched the Trojena project, which will be the first major outdoor skiing destination in the Arabian Peninsula. It will be located about 50 kilometres (31 mi) from the Gulf of Aqaba coast in the Sarwat Mountains, with elevations ranging from 1,500–2,600 metres (4,900–8,500 ft). Although it is in the desert, the site's climate is considerably cooler than is the rest of Neom's territory.[38][39][40][41][42][43] Ennismore, a lifestyle and hospitality company, was announced as the inaugural partner with its brands 25hours Hotels and Morgans Originals.[44][45] In September 2023, Zaha Hadid Architects designed a 330 m (1,080 ft) tall skyscraper for Trojena which will stand on a mountain overlooking an artificial lake. Renders of the skyscraper, which will be connected to the lakeside development by a cable car, showed a crystalline structure made of numerous columns that narrow towards the peak.[46]

In December 2022, Neom announced plans for Sindalah, a 1,100,000 cubic yards luxury resort complex off the city coast.[47] It is planned to have an 86-berth marina and three luxury hotels, and it could accommodate as many as 2,400 visitors daily.[48][47] A 9 hole golf course overlooking the sea was constructed in 2023.

Neom plans for 6,500 hectares (16,000 acres) of the surrounding land to become agricultural fields and to rely heavily on genetically engineered crops.[49][50]

A subsidiary, Enowa, has been founded to provide renewable energy, green hydrogen, and zero waste desalination.[51][52]

It is estimated that 20,000 people will be forced to relocate to accommodate the planned city.[64] The Howeitat tribe, who are native to the area, say that they are not opposed to the city itself, but rather the forced expulsion and subsequent violence.[65]

On 13 April 2020, activist Abdul Rahim al-Huwaiti posted videos online announcing that Saudi security forces were trying to evict him and other members of the Howeitat tribe from their historical homeland to make way for the development of Neom.[12][65] In the videos, Abdul Rahim al-Huwaiti said that he would defy the eviction orders, although he expected that Saudi authorities would plant weapons in his house to incriminate him.[66] He was later shot and killed by Saudi security forces, who claimed he had opened fire on them.[66] London-based human rights activist and fellow Howeitat tribe member Alya Alhwaiti disputed this version of events, stating that al-Huwaiti did not own firearms.[65] al-Huwaiti's funeral was held near the village of al-Khoraibah and was well attended despite the presence of Saudi security forces.[65] Eight cousins of al-Huwaiti have been arrested for protesting against the eviction order, but Alhwaiti has said that she and other human rights activists hoped to challenge the arrests.[65]

In June 2020, Mohammed bin Salman signed a $1.7 million contract with American public-relations and lobbying firm Ruder Finn to counter the criticism and controversies involving the Neom city project.[67]

In November 2020, British lawyers representing the Howeitat tribe urged Dominic Raab to boycott the G20 Summit in Saudi Arabia, arguing that the United Kingdom has a moral imperative to take a stand in defense of the tribe and confront Saudi Arabia over its human-rights issues.[68]

In October 2022, the Specialized Criminal Court of Saudi Arabia sentenced three members of the Howeitat tribe to death for resisting displacement.[69] The three men were arrested in 2020 for opposing the eviction of their tribe for the project. One of the condemned men, Shadli al-Howeiti, was the brother of Abdul Rahim al-Howeiti.[70]

In October 2022, Neom was announced as the host of the 2029 Asian Winter Games, a decision that received criticism concerning its adverse environmental impact.[62] Amidst increasing global-warming concerns, the project raised multiple issues ranging from the expected high temperatures in the desert land, the energy impact and detour of local water resources to the construction of artificial ski slopes from scratch. Raphael Le Magoariec, a political scientist and specialist in the geopolitics of sports in the Persian Gulf region said that Riyadh "mainly wants to promote its city of the future."[62] International Ski and Snowboard Federation secretary general Michel Vion expressed surprise at the decision of the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) and Olympic downhill silver medalist Johan Clarey said, “it is awful for our sport."[62]

In 2022, former employees reported NEOM project CEO Nadhmi Al-Nasr for promoting a management culture that "belittled expatriates, made unrealistic demands, and neglected discrimination in the workplace."[12][71] The resignation letter of a former chief executive, Andrew Wirth, accused Nasr’s leadership of being "consistently inclusive of disparagement and inappropriately dismissive and demeaning outbursts."[71] Nasr, appointed by Prince Mohammed with the responsibility to lead NEOM, was accused in his tenure of berating and scaring his employees, as confirmed by present and former staff members.[72] Two gigaprojects under the Saudi Vision 2030 were merged in 2022, while the remaining three projects lost their expatriate chief executives and turned over the senior management.[71]

The Saudi government refused to comment, while Neom declined to make Nasr available for answers or interview requests. However, Neom issued a written statement in defense of Nasr and the management culture at the megaproject, asserting that Neom represented "a scale and ambition the world has never seen before" and that it continued to retain and attract more talent because "employees are passionate about what they do and deeply committed to living up to, and delivering on, the Neom vision."[73] Anthony Harris, a former director of innovation at Neom's education team, accused the crown prince Mohammed bin Salman of fostering a faulty workplace culture since "Nadhmi takes his cue from his boss, and everyone else at Neom takes their cue from Nadhmi."[71] At one company meeting, Nasr said on record, "I drive everybody like a slave, when they drop down dead, I celebrate. That’s how I do my projects."[71] He also threatened to replace employees stuck in other countries during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown in 2020, which included the former director of branding and marketing.[71]

In late 2018, Neom's progress suffered after the assassination of Jamal Khashoggi.[74] Advisers to Neom, including Daniel L. Doctoroff[75] and architect Norman Foster, were reported to have distanced themselves from the project and the "toxic" Saudi crown prince.[76]

The Line, a smart city housed within Neom to be designed with the help of artificial intelligence, announced plans to use data as a currency to manage and provide facilities such as power, waste, water, healthcare, transport and security.[77] It was said that data would also be collected from the smartphones of the residents, their homes, facial recognition cameras and multiple other sensors. According to Joseph Bradley, the chief executive of Neom Tech & Digital Co., the data sweep would help developers feed the collected information to the city for further predicting and customizing every user's needs.[77]

However, Saudi Arabia's poor human-rights record[78] and use of espionage[79] and surveillance technology for spying on its citizens[80] emerged as a roadblock, according to digital rights experts. Vincent Mosco, a researcher into the social effects of technology, stated that "the surveillance concerns are justified" while further adding that "it is, in effect, a surveillance city."[77]

The Saudi Ministry of Communications and Information Technology did not respond to digital rights experts and researchers' requests for comments.[77]

In July 2020, a sponsorship with the League of Legends European Championship gathered significant backlash from the professional League of Legends community, including gamers and the league's staff. The backlash was centered around human-rights abuses by the Saudi government, particularly its record on LGBT rights.[81] As a result of the backlash, the sponsorship was cancelled within several hours of the announcement.[82]

Mohammed bin Salman's vision for the city incorporates some technologies that do not currently exist, such as flying cars, robot maids, dinosaur robots and a giant artificial moon.[83]

Some of the illustrations for the Neom project were taken from the Gardens by the Bay in Singapore, leaving commentators to note that "using an actual shot of Singapore to depict an upcoming construction project in Saudi Arabia is an odd choice."[84][85]