**The Line** (stylised **THE LINE**; Arabic: ذا لاين) is a planned smart city in Neom, Tabuk Province, Saudi Arabia, to be housed in a single very long building—a linear settlement—that is designed to have no cars, streets or carbon emissions.[\[3\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Line%2C_Saudi_Arabia?utm_source=chatgpt.com#cite_note-:0-3)[\[4\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Line%2C_Saudi_Arabia?utm_source=chatgpt.com#cite_note-:1-4) The plan is for the city to span 170 kilometres (110 mi) at a height of 500 m (1,600 ft)[\[5\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Line%2C_Saudi_Arabia?utm_source=chatgpt.com#cite_note-5) and a width of 200 metres (660 ft), sized to accommodate a population of 9 million, 25% of Saudi Arabia's 2022 population of 35.5 million.[\[6\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Line%2C_Saudi_Arabia?utm_source=chatgpt.com#cite_note-guardian_2022-6) The Line is planned to have an entirely glass mirror exterior,[\[6\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Line%2C_Saudi_Arabia?utm_source=chatgpt.com#cite_note-guardian_2022-6) with all basic services within a five-minute walking distance.[\[7\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Line%2C_Saudi_Arabia?utm_source=chatgpt.com#cite_note-:42-7)[\[8\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Line%2C_Saudi_Arabia?utm_source=chatgpt.com#cite_note-8) The plan was announced in 2021. Saudi Arabia stated that it aimed to complete a 5 km (3.1 mi) central segment by 2030, with completion of the full 170 km (110 mi) project in 2045.[\[9\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Line%2C_Saudi_Arabia?utm_source=chatgpt.com#cite_note-agbi-20241015-9) In 2024, the _Wall Street Journal_ and _Bloomberg_ reported that the first phase would only be 2.4 km (1.5 mi) long;[\[10\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Line%2C_Saudi_Arabia?utm_source=chatgpt.com#cite_note-10)[\[11\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Line%2C_Saudi_Arabia?utm_source=chatgpt.com#cite_note-11) Saudi officials denied this and stated that the project was continuing as planned.[\[12\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Line%2C_Saudi_Arabia?utm_source=chatgpt.com#cite_note-auto1-12)[\[13\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Line%2C_Saudi_Arabia?utm_source=chatgpt.com#cite_note-13) In 2024, after US$ 50 billion had been spent, the project was reported to be facing problems of large cost increases, many long delays, and a possible lack of the critical mass of inhabitants needed to make the city a modern business hub.[\[14\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Line%2C_Saudi_Arabia?utm_source=chatgpt.com#cite_note-brown-14) The aim had become to complete the first half-mile section in 2034. The _Wall Street Journal_ said that a 2023 draft board presentation estimated completion in 2080 at a cost of $8.8 trillion—25 times the annual Saudi budget—and $370 billion by 2035 for the first phase, mostly funded by the Saudi state, with the hope of later private investment, though a plan spokesperson said that the figures quoted were misrepresented and incorrectly interpreted.[\[14\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Line%2C_Saudi_Arabia?utm_source=chatgpt.com#cite_note-brown-14) ## Alleged 2024 scaling back \ [edit\] In April 2024, it was reported that the project had been "scaled back" after foreign direct investment investors had not "bought into the crown prince's vision", according to Torbjorn Soltvedt, principal analyst at risk consultancy firm Maplecroft. Fluctuating global oil prices had contributed to the decision.[\[35\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Line%2C_Saudi_Arabia?utm_source=chatgpt.com#cite_note-teleg-35) The Line was expected to complete an initial section of 2.4 km (1.5 mi) in length by 2030, with a population of 300,000 rather than the intended 1.5 million.[\[35\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Line%2C_Saudi_Arabia?utm_source=chatgpt.com#cite_note-teleg-35) The Saudi minister of economy and planning "Ministry of Economy and Planning (Saudi Arabia)") rejected the claims of scaling back. He said in an interview during a World Economic Forum special meeting in Riyadh in 2024 that "For NEOM, the projects, the intended scale is continuing as planned. There is no change in scale".[\[12\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Line%2C_Saudi_Arabia?utm_source=chatgpt.com#cite_note-auto1-12) As of October 2024[\[update\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Line,_Saudi_Arabia&action=edit), Saudi Arabia intended to complete a 5 km (3.1 mi) central segment of The Line by 2030. Completion of the full 170 km (110 mi) project was rescheduled for 2045.[\[9\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Line%2C_Saudi_Arabia?utm_source=chatgpt.com#cite_note-agbi-20241015-9) It was reported in August 2025 that Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund had written down $8 billion from major projects, including the Neom development.[\[36\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Line%2C_Saudi_Arabia?utm_source=chatgpt.com#cite_note-36) According to The Times, "many of the projects faced delays and cost overruns and had reportedly been scaled back."[\[37\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Line%2C_Saudi_Arabia?utm_source=chatgpt.com#cite_note-37) Neom faced "repeated delays" after other infrastructure projects were given priority.[\[38\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Line%2C_Saudi_Arabia?utm_source=chatgpt.com#cite_note-38) ## Reception \ [edit\] ### Urban planning concerns \ [edit\] In an interview with _Dezeen_, Marshall Brown of Princeton University said that while he believed that in such large-scale urban planning, it would be difficult to achieve the slick, futuristic aesthetic seen in the concept art because of the large number of factors involved; for example, one of the images depicts a picnic on a 200-metre-high (660 ft) ledge, which would probably be dangerous in real life.[\[39\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Line%2C_Saudi_Arabia?utm_source=chatgpt.com#cite_note-dezeen-39) Hélène Chartier of C40 Cities compared The Line to other unrealised linear city projects, such as Soria's 1882 design "Linear city (Soria design)") and a 1965 proposal in New Jersey "Linear city (Graves and Eisenman design)").[\[39\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Line%2C_Saudi_Arabia?utm_source=chatgpt.com#cite_note-dezeen-39) Dutch architect Winy Maas said that while he would love to live in such an environment, its profile as seen in the concept art was monotonous, and he believed it would facilitate unfavorable wind flow through the interior.[\[39\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Line%2C_Saudi_Arabia?utm_source=chatgpt.com#cite_note-dezeen-39) Philip Oldfield of the University of New South Wales said that the quality of life would probably come down to whether the city was well-managed, rather than to its visual flair.[\[39\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Line%2C_Saudi_Arabia?utm_source=chatgpt.com#cite_note-dezeen-39) Oldfield said the project would have a carbon footprint of about 1.8 gigatonnes (2,000 million short tons) of CO2 equivalent in the glass, steel, and concrete, because "you cannot build a 500-metre-tall \[1,600 ft\] building out of low-carbon materials". He said the 170-kilometre (110-mile) profile would create a large-scale barrier to adjacent ecosystems and migratory species similar to that created by highways, and the mirrored exterior facade would be dangerous for birds.[\[39\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Line%2C_Saudi_Arabia?utm_source=chatgpt.com#cite_note-dezeen-39) Researchers from the Vienna Complexity Science Hub suggested that a circular city of a 3.3 km (2.1 mi) radius would have had much shorter commuting times than a linear city. The average distance between two inhabitants of a linear city would be 57 km (35 mi), as opposed to 2.9 km (1.8 mi) for a circular city. In a linear city, each inhabitant would have only 1.2% of the population in walking distance as "people are as far away from others as possible", as opposed to 24% in a circular city. In a linear city, walking and cycling would not be popular and travel time in a fast train would be disproportionately long, while a compact circular city would allow active mobility and fast trains would not be needed. The required density in a circular city would be much lower, which would allow it to be built with existing technology, reducing the environmental footprint of buildings. A railway line disruption would immobilize a linear city, but have less impact on a circular city.[\[40\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Line%2C_Saudi_Arabia?utm_source=chatgpt.com#cite_note-Prieto-Curiel-40) ## Feasibility \ [edit\] According to architect and urban planner Etienne Bou-Abdo, "the 3D images presented are not classical 3D architecture images", and the designers of the project "have rather called upon video game designers". Bou-Abdo stated that the plan included "a lot of technology that we don't have today".[\[21\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Line%2C_Saudi_Arabia?utm_source=chatgpt.com#cite_note-FQ-21) Many of the project's key announcements, particularly in the areas of energy and transportation, were based on technologies that did not exist even in prototype form.[\[44\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Line%2C_Saudi_Arabia?utm_source=chatgpt.com#cite_note-:4-44)