End of The Line: how Saudi Arabia's Neom dream unravelled | FT #shorts

Project Overview & Challenges - NEOM's "The Line," intended for 9 million residents, faces potential stagnation [1] - Ambitious schedule set in 2022 aimed for residents to start moving in by the end of 2024 [2] - By 2025, the project expects to have or plan to have 130,000 residents and 1 million tourists [3] - Construction of the foundation commenced before complete design and costing [3] Resource & Material Requirements - The 170 km "The Line" is divided into 135 modules [4] - Building 20 modules requires concrete equivalent to France's annual output [4] - Project requires approximately 60% of the world's recycled steel [4] - Estimated workforce needed to complete the line ranges from 300,000 to 500,000 workers [4] Financial & Investment Concerns - Initial budget estimate for "The Line" in late 2021 was $1.6 trillion, later revised to around $4.5 trillion [5] - Private investors have largely declined to back the development due to its scale and complexity [6] - Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF) is the primary funding source [6] - Recent oil price slump has impacted PIF's liquidity, raising concerns about project completion without further private investment [7]