Saudi Arabia's Neom is a $500B futuristic city being built in the desert — but it could morph into a surveillance dystopia

The proposed site for the Neom project.

neom

• Saudi Arabia is building a futuristic mega-city called Neom deep in a desert bordering the Red Sea.
• The state has pledged at least $500 billion to make it happen, and is soliciting further investment.
• But critics fear that sophisticated technology could be used to surveil residents. 

Saudi Arabia hopes to build a futuristic mega-city 33 times the size of New York City from scratch.

Saudi officials describe it as "the world's most ambitious project."

It's called Neom, a planned 16-borough city on the Red Sea coast in the northwestern Saudi province of Tabuk.

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman told Bloomberg in October 2018 that Neom would be completed in 2025, and that phase one was nearly done.

As of 2023, that timeline looked unlikely — Neom's official website promised that some people would live there from 2024, but said it would be 2030 before it was home to a million people, and 2045 before its target of nine million.

As the plans developed, Crown Prince Mohammed's decision to form a closer alliance with China's President Xi Jinping has some analysts concerned. As Insider reported, they believe that the Saudis could be preparing to use sophisticated Chinese surveillance technology to tightly monitor and control Neom's residents. 

Here is a rundown of the project so far:

Neom is a portmanteau of the Greek word neos, meaning "new," and mustaqbal, the Arabic word for "future."

The desert site in Tabuk Province which will eventually house Neom.

Neom

Source: Business Insider

It will cover 10,230 square miles, and cost Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund at least $500 billion — plus millions in foreign investment if it can get it.

The proposed site for the Neom project in Tabuk Province, north western Saudi Arabia.

neom

Source: Business Insider

Neom is part of Vision 2030: an ambitious plan to revolutionize Saudi society, reduce dependence on oil, and make the country a technology hub.

A Saudi man walks past the logo of Vision 2030 after a news conference, in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia June 7, 2016.

REUTERS/Faisal Al Nasser

Source: Vision 2030

In January 2019, Saudi Arabia set up a company, also called Neom, to be the driving force behind the building effort.

Cars drive past the King Abdullah Financial District in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, November 12, 2017.

Reuters

Source: CNBC

In 2017, Neom hired three of the world's largest consultancy firms — McKinsey & Co, Boston Consulting, and Oliver Wyman — to advise. Here's what they came up with.

A visitor takes pictures of a robot during an exhibition on 'Neom', a new business and industrial city, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, October 25, 2017

Reuters

Source: The Wall Street Journal

Neom is supposed to draw on "cloud seeding" technology to make artificial clouds which will produce more rainfall than naturally possible in the desert.

The location of Neom in Saudi Arabia.

Neom

Source: The Wall Street Journal

Neom will also have the "leading education system on the planet," with classes taught by holographic teachers, officials say.

A hologram of Princess Leia from Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope.

Disney

Source: The Wall Street Journal

Another idea is a 'Jurassic Park'-like island for tourists with robotic dinosaurs.

A robot Stegosaurus at Taman Legenda, TMII, East Jakarta, Indonesia.

Shutterstock

Source: The Wall Street Journal

At night Neom is supposed to be illuminated by a giant artificial moon.

In this March 30, 2018, photo, a motorist waits at a traffic light while the waxing full moon rises in Overland Park, Kansas.

Associated Press

Source: The Wall Street Journal

People will get about using flying taxis, Saudi officials say.

A drone taxi during an exhibition on 'Neom', a new business and industrial city, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, October 25, 2017.

Hamad I Mohammed/Reuters

Neom is working on the notion that, in the future, driving cars will just be for fun, and no longer a method of transportation.

So people might drive a Ferrari to the coast, but not drive themselves to work.

Source: The Wall Street Journal

Neom residents will — according to the plan — be able to choose from more Michelin-starred restaurants per capita than in any other city.

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia's capita.

adznano3/Shutterstock

In order for that to happen, it would not only need the restaurants to come, but for Michelin's inspectors to accredit them.

As of 2022, the only permanent Michelin-starred establishments in the Middle East were in Dubai.

Source: The Wall Street Journal, CNN

The Red Sea coastline will be altered, according to the plans, with glow-in-the-dark sand added to its beaches.

Glow-in-the-dark blue waves caused by the phenomenon known as harmful algal bloom or "red tide", are seen at night near Sam Mun Tsai beach in Hong Kong.

Reuters

Source: The Wall Street Journal

Construction work has already started on Neom Bay, phase one of the mega-city.

Nadhmi al-Nasr, the CEO of Neom, at the Future Investment Initiative FII conference in Riyadh on October 25, 2018.

Getty

Neom Bay is due to become a residential area with "white beaches, a mild climate and an attractive investment environment," the Saudi Press Agency was reported to have said.

Its completion date was set for some time in 2020 per the announcement, made before the COVID-19 pandemic began.

Then end of 2020 came without evidence of completion, though daily flights take place as of 2023 at the Neom Bay airport.

Neom used a photo of Singapore's Gardens by the Bay in their marketing materials, suggesting they'll likely draw inspiration from the Southeast Asian city.

Singapore's Gardens by the Bay, designed by Grant Associates and Wilkinson Eyre Architects.

Flickr/adforce1

The Saudi government began hosting events at the site of Neom to generate investment and media attention long before it was complete.

Wingsuit divers soar over the site of Neom as part of the Extreme Sports Event in 2018.

YouTube/Neom

Source: Insider

There were plans for Neom to become an e-gaming hub, but they appear to have been put on hold

Two e-Sports stars going head to head.

REUTERS/Wolfgang Rattay

Two e-gaming giants in 2020 announced plans to partner with Neom. But following criticism for getting involved with a country with a patchy human rights record one of the companies, Riot's LEC, withdrew, esports.net reported

Source: esports.net

Saudi Arabia in 2021 announced plans for 'The Line,' a 100 mile long 'vertical skyscraper' that it wants to house millions of people.

This image shows the planned design of 'The Line,' a 'vertical skyscraper' from the planned futuristic Saudi Arabian city of Neom that would cut through the desert.

NEOM

"The Line" is the hyper-ambitious centerpiece of the project. 

According to planners, it'll take the form of two skyscraper-sized buildings laid out vertically, encased in reflective glass, cutting through the desert and mountains. 

They say The Line will feature a regulated temperate microclimate, lush hanging gardens, and a high speed train service to connect both ends in 20 minutes. 

It'll be carbon neutral, and planners say it'll eventually be home to 9 million people. 

But critics have questioned whether a project on such a grandiose scale can be completed as promised. 

Source: Neom

 

There are plans for a giant floating port called The Oxagon covering around 97 square miles

A rendering of the Oxagon, a giant floating port in the planned Saudi Arabian city of Neom.

Neom

The Oxagon will be the industrial and research hub of the city, say planners, as well as containing a port that the crown prince says will be "a new focal point for global trade flows." 

According to Dezeen magazine, it'll be arranged around water filled squares connected by canals and will feature tech companies and an oceanographic research center. 

Source: Neom, Dezeen. 

The future of the project was put at risk, however. After the murder of Saudi-US journalist Jamal Khashoggi, the Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, reportedly said: "No one will invest for years."

A composite image of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Associated Press/Virginia Mayo; Nicolas Asfouri - Pool/Getty

Source: Financial Times

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's decision to form closer ties with China's Xi Jinping has disturbing implications for Neom, say analysts

Chinese President Xi Jinping holds talks with Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud at the royal palace in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Dec. 8, 2022.

Yue Yuewei/Xinhua via Getty Images

At a summit in Saudi Arabia in December 2022 the leaders pledged cooperate on a sweeping range of issues, including cyber security. 

Source: Insider 

Sophisticated Chinese surveillance technology could be used to surveil residents in Neom.

The Chinese national flag flies behind security cameras on Tiananmen Square on June 4, 2012 on the 23rd anniversary of China's crackdown of democracy protests in Beijing.

ED JONES/AFP via Getty Images

China is offering the technology is being offered to Gulf states, as part of a project to create "smart cities" regulated by user data, analysts told Insider. 

But the data could be used to track residents, or access their communications.

Source: Insider

Neom will likely reflect Mohammed bin Salman's ambition to modernize Saudi Arabia, but also his authoritarian instincts to crush dissent, critics say

This publicity image shows a design for 'The Line', a part of the planned Saudi Arabian desert megacity called Neom.

NEOM

Although Crown Prince Mohammed wishes to attract investment and expertise from wealthy Western countries, he is unlikely unwilling to relinquish any of his power to repress critics and opponents.

And in Neom he will create a city where futuristic luxury can be combined with control, said the experts. 

Source: Insider

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