PLANS to build a 170-kilometer-long skyscraper and the Saudi economy have been drastically reduced.
The line was expected to carry 1. 5 million people by the end of the decade, but will now have a capacity of 300,000 and will stretch for just 2. 4 km.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud’s £1 trillion desert city is preparing for a “civilizational revolution. “
It is the jewel in the crown of the Saudi government’s Vision 2030, a program introduced to increase economic, social and cultural diversification, in line with the crown prince’s vision.
Striking in size (106 miles long by 200 feet wide), the line was intended to “illuminate the chosen life tactics,” according to the crown prince.
The design will be created in mirrored glass in the province of Tabuk, opposite Egypt on the other side of the Red Sea.
Inside The Line, there had to be every luxury one could dream of: from an octagonal floating harbor and swimming lane to a man-made ski hotel and sports stadium.
The expected population of 1. 5 million would be served and supported through robots and artificial intelligence creations.
But the crown prince’s mammoth plan to wean the Saudi economy out of its dependence on oil may not go as planned, according to new reports in The Telegraph.
Despite plans to expand the mirror city by 170 km and house 1. 5 million inhabitants by the end of the decade, it is now more likely that it will expand to 2. 4 km and house only another 300,000 people until 2030.
According to experts, the relief “not surprising” reflects the Saudi government’s difficulties in convincing foreign investors, as well as the country’s vulnerability to oil prices.
Torbjorn Soltvedt, senior analyst at threat consultancy MaplecroftAdvertisement, told The Telegraph: “Foreign direct investors have not accepted the crown prince’s vision of a new Saudi Arabia. “
The line is arguably the most striking detail of Neom’s proposed urban progression project, which covers a domain of 10,232 square miles and is being built at the northern end of the Red Sea.
Aerial images released earlier this year showed a chasm for the futuristic city had been dug in the mountains and desert as excavation paintings continued along the country’s northwest coast.
According to figures from the International Monetary Fund, approximately three-quarters of Saudi Arabia’s budget benefits have come from oil since 2010, the Kingdom is largely at the mercy of oil price fluctuations.
James Swanston of Capital Economics explained that the country, which last year sold nine million barrels of oil a day, wants the value to be at least £93 (£73) to balance its budget.
He told The Telegraph: “The overall picture of the Saudi economy backdrop is that they will have a budget deficit in 2023, around 2% of GDP.
“This happened when they started to ease their fiscal policy towards the kingdom’s non-oil economy and invest in projects like Neom.
“To maintain this level of spending, they want a higher price of oil. “
He added: “Even with the uptick seen this year with the fallout from the Israel-Hamas war, we are still not at that level. “
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