An IMGlobalWealth.com News Report
When Saudi Arabia unveiled The Line, a 170-kilometre linear city at the heart of NEOM, it was framed as a radical rethinking of urban life. Car-free, powered by renewable energy and designed to house up to nine million people, it was positioned as the centrepiece of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s Vision 2030. Today, the question facing investors, policymakers and global observers is no longer whether The Line is visionary, but whether it can still be delivered in anything close to its original form.
What the verified reporting shows
Research by the IMGlobalWealth.com newsroom indicates that The Line has not been completed and has not been formally cancelled. Construction is ongoing, but is currently limited to phased segments rather than the full 170-kilometre corridor originally envisioned.
The Financial Times has reported in multiple investigations that development is now focused on a small initial segment, with the broader linear city no longer being built as a single continuous structure. The newspaper also noted that internal planning targets had been revised downward and that original population goals were no longer considered realistic within the Vision 2030 timeframe.
Bloomberg reported in mid-2025 that Saudi authorities commissioned external consultants to conduct strategic reviews of The Line’s feasibility, cost structure and delivery priorities, an indication that the project is undergoing formal reassessment rather than simple acceleration.
Meanwhile, The Wall Street Journal revealed that design changes ordered by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, including the relocation of city segments and alterations to width, caused months of delays and required re-engineering of key infrastructure routes.
Costs, timelines and delivery
According to the Financial Times, capital expenditure projections for The Line, if delivered in full, run into the trillions of dollars over multiple decades, making it one of the most expensive urban developments ever attempted.
Analysts cited by both the Financial Times and Newsweek have suggested that completion, if pursued at scale, is now likely to stretch well into the 2040s or later.
Saudi officials continue to describe The Line as a long-term strategic priority, but both Bloomberg and the Financial Times have reported that delivery is now understood to be modular and phased, with revised timelines and benchmarks replacing earlier launch targets.
How IMGlobalWealth.news anticipated the shift
In The Line: Saudi’s Trillion-Dollar Mirage or Modern Marvel? (19 May 2024), IMGlobal Wealth highlighted early signals of recalibration, including reduced population targets and indications that only a short section might be completed by 2030.
A year later, Mirrors in the Sand: Saudi’s Monument to Modernity Takes Shape (2 May 2025) acknowledged visible construction progress, while also citing independent analysts who warned that projected capital costs had reached levels far beyond original estimates.
Beyond construction
Concerns have not been limited to engineering and finance. International media including the BBC, Reuters and The New York Times have repeatedly reported on labour, displacement and human-rights controversies surrounding NEOM. IMGW reflected this dimension in related features such as The Human Cost of Saudi’s Neom and CEO Ditches $100M Neom Contract Over Saudi Human Rights Record.
The objective position
What can be stated with confidence, based on reliable reporting, is this:
- The Line is still under development, but not at the scale or pace originally presented.
Its scope and timelines have been revised, with phased, modular delivery now replacing the single-city concept. - Strategic and financial reviews are underway, as confirmed by Bloomberg and the Financial Times.
- No official cancellation has been announced by NEOM or the Saudi government.
Whether The Line ultimately becomes a landmark of future urban design or a case study in the limits of megaproject ambition remains unresolved. What is clear is that the project has moved from visionary blueprint to strategic reassessment, and the world is watching closely.
About the Project: NEOM’s The Line
Vision vs. Reality
The original Vision (2021–2022)
- Length: 170 kilometres
- Width: 200 metres
- Height: up to 500 metres
- Planned population: 9 million residents
- Target milestone: Major occupancy by 2030
- Power: 100% renewable energy
- Transport: 20-minute end-to-end travel
- Cost (early estimates): ~$500 billion
Current Verified Status (2025–2026)
- Construction: Ongoing, but limited to phased segments
- Built length (reported): ~2.4 km initial module
- Delivery model: Modular, phased, long-term
- Scope: Scaled back from original 170 km concept
- Timeline: Extended well beyond 2030
- Governance: Strategic and feasibility reviews underway
- Official status: Not completed, not cancelled
Key Pressure Points
- Escalating capital costs (multi-trillion estimates reported)
- Engineering complexity in extreme desert conditions
- Design changes and re-routing of segments
- Labour and human-rights scrutiny
- Environmental impact concerns
- Investor appetite and funding recalibration
What has changed?
- From a single, continuous linear megacity → to a phased network of urban segments
- From a 2030 delivery promise → to a multi-decade development horizon
- From a fixed masterplan → to a recalibrated, modular strategy
