Remember when The Line was supposed to change the future of cities?
A 170 kilometer (106 mile) mirrored megacity.
500 meters tall.
Designed for 9 million people.
No cars.
Everything within a five minute walk.
It sounded like science fiction.
Reality has been much different.
By late 2025, only about 2.4 kilometers of foundation had been completed.
That’s roughly 1.4% of the original plan.
Reports say construction was suspended in September 2025, the project’s leadership changed, and the first phase was scaled back dramatically.
The numbers tell the story.
More than $50 billion has reportedly already been spent.
Internal cost estimates reportedly climbed into the trillions of dollars, far beyond the project’s original expectations.
The original goal of 1.5 million residents by 2030 has reportedly been cut to fewer than 300,000.
At the same time, Saudi Arabia has shifted more attention toward other parts of NEOM, including ports, data centers, and industrial projects that may generate returns much sooner.
That’s probably the biggest lesson here.
It’s one thing to unveil breathtaking computer renderings.
It’s another thing to finance, engineer, and build the largest construction project in modern history.
The Line isn’t officially dead.
But it has become a reminder that even countries with enormous oil wealth eventually run into the same limits everyone else does.
Money, time, and physics.
Financial Times on unraveling: https://ig.ft.com/saudi-neom-line
Semafor suspension report: https://www.semafor.com/article/05/22/2026/saudis-neom-halts-work-on-the-line-until-after-2030
House of Saud update: https://houseofsaud.com/neom-2026-the-line-saudi-arabia-status-update/
ArchDaily scaled back: https://www.archdaily.com/1039911/the-line-at-a-crossroads-revisiting-neoms-vision-for-a-utopian-city
Wikipedia The Line: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Line,_Saudi_Arabia