The Saudi government has significantly scaled back the ambition of its flagship linear-city project, known as “The Line”, part of the larger NEOM megadevelopment and chaired by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

What was originally pitched as a 106-mile (170 km) car-free “city of the future” has been revised amid mounting cost pressures, delayed timelines and a failure to attract the expected level of foreign investment.

The initial vision included twin mirror-clad towers rising about 500 metres, stretching across desert from the Red Sea coast to the Hejaz mountains, accommodating some nine million residents by 2030. In recent internal assessments, however, the first phase has been scaled down to only a few miles (reports cite as little as 1.5 miles/2.4 km) and a resident target of roughly 300,000 by end-of-decade.

Cost estimates have ballooned, reportedly rising from the original around US$1.6 trillion in 2021, to US$4.5 trillion in 2022, and now approaching US$8.8 trillion or more.

Meanwhile the Saudi sovereign wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund (PIF), has already posted an eight-billion-dollar write-down linked in large part to NEOM’s financial strains.

Construction is ongoing but progress is far slower than promotional materials suggested.

Some modules have seen piling nearly completed, yet much of the site remains unfinished and large sections of the original plan appear to be on hold.

Executives and external consultants commissioned by PIF have reportedly been asked to reassess the viability of the project, confirming that the revision is under way.

Despite this, NEOM’s leadership insists that The Line remains a “strategic priority” and will continue as a “multi-generational development of unprecedented scale and complexity.”

The scaling back of The Line reflects deeper shifts in Saudi Arabia’s broader Vision 2030 agenda to diversify away from oil dependency and develop tourism, technology and mega-infrastructure.

The kingdom appears recalibrating its approach, prioritising segments seen as more immediately viable such as the Trojena mountain resort (scheduled for the 2029 Asian Winter Games) while re-evaluating the full scope of The Line.

Observers say the revision signals a move from global megaproject grandeur toward staged delivery and financial discipline.

Despite the challenges, officials maintain that the project retains its transformative ambitions: to redefine urban living, to demonstrate Saudi Arabia’s capacity for futuristic innovation, and to support economic diversification over the long term.

The coming months will be pivotal as the PIF-led review concludes and a revised roadmap emerges for The Line’s next phase.