NEOM: Saudi Arabia’s $500 Billion Bet on the Future (And Whether It’ll Actually Happen)Okay, so I just spent way too long reading about NEOM.
And honestly? It sounds like something I’d make up if I was writing a sci-fi novel after three espressos.
A city that’s 170 kilometers long.
No cars.
No streets.
Just a giant mirrored skyscraper slicing through the desert, powered by wind and solar, with people zipping around in silent pods.
And it’s not a movie.
It’s being built. Right now. In Saudi Arabia.
Let me tell you what I’ve learned - and why I’m both fascinated and kind of skeptical.
📍 First, Where Is This Place?
NEOM is in the northwest corner of Saudi Arabia - a quiet, remote part of the country near the Red Sea, across from Egypt and south of Jordan.
Right now, it’s mostly sand, mountains, and not much else.
But the plan? Turn this blank slate into the most futuristic city on Earth.
💡 Who’s Behind It?
The Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman , announced NEOM in 2017 as part of Vision 2030 - a plan to move the country beyond oil.
And NEOM is the crown jewel.
The name? A mashup of the Greek word “neo” (new) and the Arabic “m” from mustaqbal (future).
So, New Future .
Yeah, it’s a vibe.
🏗️ What Exactly Are They Building?
🌆 The Line - A City That Looks Like a Glitch in the Matrix
This is the showstopper.
Imagine a city that’s 170 kilometers long - that’s like driving from San Diego to Los Angeles - but only 200 meters wide . You could stand in the middle and see both walls.
It’s not a cluster of buildings. It’s one long, mirrored structure, 500 meters tall, with homes, schools, hospitals, and parks stacked inside.
No cars. No traffic. You get around on high-speed pods underground.
The walls? Covered in solar panels. The energy? All renewable.
They say you’ll be able to go from one end to the other in under 20 minutes .
It’s less of a city, more like a vertical strip mall of the future - if that strip mall was designed by Elon Musk and a sci-fi art director.
🌍 Other Parts of NEOM
It’s not just The Line. There’s a whole region being built:
Oxagon : A floating industrial city on the Red Sea - shaped like an octagon (hence the name).
Trojena : A mountain resort with cooler weather, hiking, and yes - they’re planning winter sports . In Saudi Arabia. With fake snow.
Sindalah : A luxury island for the ultra-rich - basically a playground for billionaires.
💰 How Are They Paying for This?
Good question.
The estimated cost? Over $500 billion .
To put that in perspective:
That’s more than the entire economy of Switzerland
It’s like building ten Dubai-sized cities - all at once
Most of the money is coming from the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) - the same fund buying Premier League teams and investing in tech startups.
They’re also trying to attract global investors, companies, and high-skilled workers.
But let’s be real - this isn’t just a real estate project. It’s a statement .
Saudi Arabia is saying: We’re not just oil. We’re the future.
🤔 So… Will It Actually Work?
Here’s where I start to hesitate.
Because for all the slick renders and futuristic promises, there are real problems.
🚧 1. Can You Build This in the Desert?
The desert isn’t just empty space. It’s extreme heat, sandstorms, and fragile ecosystems. Building something this massive - especially a sealed, climate-controlled city - is untested at this scale.
And The Line? It’s not just tall - it’s long . Maintaining something 170 km of mirrored glass in a sandy, salty coastal environment sounds like a maintenance nightmare.
👥 2. Who’s Going to Live There?
They want 1 million people by 2030.
But who?
Will tech workers from San Francisco trade Silicon Valley for a mirrored corridor in the desert?
Will families want to raise kids in a city with no streets, no parks (outside the building), and no real history?
What about local communities ? Reports say hundreds of families from the Huwaitat tribe have been displaced - some forcibly - to make way for construction.
That’s not just a PR issue. It’s a human one.
🌬️ 3. Is It Really “Green”?
They say NEOM will be carbon neutral , powered by wind, solar, and green hydrogen.
And that’s great - in theory.
But building a city this big, moving millions of tons of materials, and running AI-powered systems 24/7? That’s a huge footprint - even if the energy is clean.
It’s like buying an electric car… but flying it to the moon every weekend.
🌟 So Is It All Bad?
No. Not at all.
If even half of NEOM works, it could be a game-changer .
It could prove that cities can be sustainable , even in harsh climates.
It could attract scientists, engineers, and innovators who want to build something new.
It could push forward clean energy, AI, and urban design in ways we haven’t seen.
And hey - Dubai was once a desert fishing village. Now it’s a global city.
So impossible doesn’t mean won’t happen .
🧭 Final Thoughts: A Dream or a Mirage?
I don’t know if NEOM will work.
But I do know this: the world is changing fast. And someone has to try bold things.
NEOM might be over-the-top. It might be too expensive. It might fail.
But if it doesn’t, we might look back and say: That’s when the future started.
Construction is already underway. The first phase - parts of The Line and Oxagon - could open by 2025 or 2026 .
So we’ll see.
In the meantime, I’ll be over here, staring at renders of a mirrored city in the desert, wondering if I just read about the future… or a really expensive fantasy.
💬 What Do You Think?
Would you live in The Line?
Is NEOM a bold vision - or a billionaire’s ego project?
Drop your thoughts below.
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