Saudi Arabia seeks advice from consultants on The Line feasibility

Saudi Arabia‘s PIF has asked consultants to conduct a review of the feasibility of The Line, with Neom maintaining that the megacity is “a strategic priority”.

According to media company Bloomberg, Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) – owner of the Neom project, of which The Line is the main part – asked consulting firms to determine whether the 170-kilometre-long city is feasible.

The first phase of The Line is planned to house 300,000 people by 2030.

The review comes as Saudi Arabia looks to reassess projects under the Vision 2030 plan to shift the country’s economy away from reliance on oil.

Neom focused on “accelerating progress to match the overall vision of the project”

“As is typical with large-scale, multi-year projects, strategic reviews are common practice and occur several times over the course of a major development project or infrastructure program,” Neom said in a statement, according to Bloomberg.

“The Line remains a strategic priority and Neom is focused on maintaining operational continuity, improving efficiencies and accelerating progress to match the overall vision and objectives of the project.”

Photos released in April revealed concrete works progressing on The Line, which is planned as a 170-kilometre-long city consisting of a pair of mirrored 500-metre-high skyscrapers.

Neom had hoped to build 2.4 kilometres of the city to house 300,000 people by 2030, a prediction that was scaled back last year from the original goal of 1.5 million residents by 2030.

Bloomberg acknowledged that it is not yet known what the outcomes of the review will be.

“One big element that Neom is asking for is to look at commercialising aspects of the city and how it could turn into something that makes business sense,” Bloomberg reporter Abeer Abu Omar said on Bloomberg TV.

“We don’t know what the outcome is,” she continued. “It could be downsizing, it could be taking a different shape.”

It is understood that the concept of The Line was created by US studio Morphosis, and the first phase is being designed by Austrian studio Delugan Meissl Associated Architects and global studio Gensler.

The Line is the most high-profile project to form part of Neom, which has been widely criticised on human rights and sustainability grounds.

Earlier this year, Neom climate advisor Donald Wuebbles warned that The Line could alter weather patterns.

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