Construction of the Neom region in northwest Saudi Arabia has so far cost more than $50 billion, according to the project’s deputy CEO Rayan Fayez.
Speaking during the World Economic Forum conference in Davos, Fayez explained that the project was an “economy building exercise” and outlined how much had been spent so far.
“It’s important to highlight where we are today,” he said. “More than $50 billion has been spent so far building the basic infrastructure.”
“I want to emphasise that Neom is not a giga project or a real estate development project, Neom is an economy building exercise so it’s creating a region within the Kingdom – diversifying the Kingdom’s economy.”
“Designing this while we’re building”
Fayez was speaking as part of a panel titled Neom progress update alongside Denis Hickey, who is the chief development officer for The Line mega city.
As part of the discussion, Hickey gave a short update on the progress being made on The Line, which is planned to stretch 170 kilometres across the country.
According to Hickey, the team is “designing this while we’re building”, with excavation work and piling now taking place. He predicted that the above-ground building will begin later this year.
“The Line is the major capital city that is in early works, we are kind of designing this while we’re building,” said Hickey.
“So we’re doing all of the excavation, we’re actually putting the piles in the ground and we’re due to start pouring the foundations of the first phase and then we’ll start to become vertical later this year.”
Human rights concerns
The Line is one of the major elements of Neom, which is one of the world’s largest and most controversial developments. Phase one of the project is being designed by Austrian studio Delugan Meissl Associated Architects and global studio Gensler.
Neom is one of 14 giga projects being developed in Saudi Arabia as part of the Saudi Vision 2030 plan to shift the country’s economy from a reliance on oil. At the end of last year, Neom’s CEO Nadhmi al-Nasr left the project amid reports of financial issues and migrant worker fatalities.
Dezeen recently asked if it was time for architecture studios to walk away from the project, following mounting human rights concerns.
It followed reporting by the BBC alleging that Saudi forces permitted the use of lethal force to clear land for the project, with human rights organisation ALQST drawing attention to reports that three men forcibly evicted from the Neom site were sentenced to death in 2022.
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