City of NEOM: Made to Change Means Transparency Saudi Style

The slogan for the planet’s most impressive development project is “Made to Change.” The project is in Saudi Arabia, and the development of a new futuristic city has never been built before by the name of Neom.

Made to Change also means transparency in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, which just years ago was seen as a closed society. It is now opening up to the world at an unprecedented speed and has already welcomed 100 million tourists.

With more than a dozen mega projects in the making, a never-before-planned concept for the city of NEOM, a city of the future, has received global media attention since it was first announced in 2017 and 2022 presented to the public.

This was done by the world’s most progressive, forward-looking, and youngest leader, the 39-year-old Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

His vision for 2030 has been guiding the Kingdom on many fronts, and one success after another, including hosting the World Expo in 2030, has amazed millions worldwide.

The NEOM project, as the futuristic city is called, is a $1.5 trillion plan to introduce a new lifestyle and a new type of green, self-sufficient city that will eventually become home to 1.5 million residents. The further outlook talks about 40 million new residents in the next century.

According to new reports earlier this month, referring to people familiar with the situation, the 2030 phase of the development will still stretch 1.5 miles and house an impressive 300,000 residents. Preserving surrounding nature is one of NEOM’s goals. This is an adjustment to the initial goal, which some say is realistic based on what is now known after construction started.

As a result, some international media today saw this to be an embarrassment; others even talked about humiliation for Saudi Arabia, when in reality, it appears to be a transparent way to communicate a project that has never been done in the world.

Stunning concept images exhibited at the Riyadh-based visitors center show an industrial city, ports, and tourism developments. Presentations showcased a vast, mirrored structure cutting through the desert near crystal blue ocean waters.

If successful, NEOM plans to build it in stages and eventually cover a 106-mile stretch of desert along the coast of the Red Sea in the western Tabuk province.

The Future of Tourism is NEOM on the Gulf of Aqaba in Saudi Arabia

It’s unclear if the twin skyscrapers in the concept would still be part of the adjusted first 2030 phase.

News reports say the 2024 NEOM budget is still pending approval, which makes sense considering the enormous money the kingdom invests in many areas, including tourism, to make it oil-independent.

Some projects outlined in the Vision 2030 plans are expected to be adjusted and delayed until the decade’s end.

Mega projects are a task in development and are expected to adjust as more facts become available during implementation.

Finance Minister Mohammed Al Jadaan said in December that more time is needed to ‘build factories’ and ‘sufficient human resources.’

‘The delay or extension of some projects will serve the economy,’ the minister explained.

At just 200 yards wide, The Line is intended to be Saudi Arabia’s answer to unchecked and wasteful urban sprawl. It will layer homes, schools, and parks on top of each other in what planners term ‘Zero Gravity Urbanism’.

The promotional material says residents will have ‘all daily needs’ reachable within a five-minute walk and access to other perks like outdoor skiing facilities and a high-speed rail with an end-to-end transit of 20 minutes’.

The promotional video also says the line will be powered by 100 percent renewable energy and feature a year-round temperate micro-climate with natural ventilation.

In his 2022 presentation, Prince Mohammed sketched an even more ambitious vision, describing a car-free utopia that would become the planet’s most liveable city with new technologies unavailable to humanity at this time.