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Plans for the futuristic city Neom were announced in 2017. According to the Arab publication Arabian Business, the region is set to welcome its first residents and tourists as early as 2024.
Neom by the Numbers
The estimated budget for construction is $500 billion. The planned area of the city is 26,500 square kilometers, stretching 460 kilometers along the Red Sea coast in northern Saudi Arabia. Planners say Neom will be 33 times larger than New York City.
The Project and Its Implementation
Neom is the crown jewel of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s plan to revitalize Saudi Arabia’s economy, turn a remote region into a futuristic tech hub, and attract large-scale investment.
Currently, planning and construction work is only 1% complete: builders have begun to raise land and dig tunnels through the mountains. The city is being built from two endpoints that will extend toward the center.
Future Technologies
Chief designers envision a city with no roads for cars or surface transportation. All transportation will take place underground. Electricity will come from solar panels, taking advantage of abundant desert sunshine. Cutting-edge technologies, including seawater desalination, will supply drinking water, and food will be grown on specialized marine farms.
Robots will manage essential services across nearly every sector: security, logistics, deliveries, and even care for the elderly and people with disabilities.
And About Sports…
Sports competitions are set to take place in the mountainous region of Trojena, located near Neom. In winter, temperatures there drop below 10°C, and the average annual temperature is about 10 degrees lower than in other parts of the country. Organizers plan to produce artificial snow for competitions using only renewable energy.
After the Asian Games, Trojena is expected to function as a year-round outdoor ski resort.
