As Saudi Arabia moves from idea to concept, it indulges in planning. Many of them have also gotten involved in bringing the preliminary ideas to reality as they see a surge in hiring for NEOM. Through NEOM, they aim to bring a huge difference with the massive new city that shares the northwestern corner with Jordan.
It is supposed to be one of the city’s significant foundations. It will be like a backbone, which currently is a seminal central project. As a project, would include different elements like utilities, infrastructure, zero cars, and Hyperloop. With the help of this project, there would be an increased focus on limiting emissions across the city.
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Although their aims to bring significant differences, certain challenges are likely to be faced as well. Let’s understand the different challenges this project will face.
Economic Challenges
One of the major challenges that The Line is likely to face is economic challenges. Financial obstacles are likely to arise for ambitious projects like NEOM and The Line. While the government is funding the project, it would be difficult to attract investments from foreign companies and governments.
As per the initial plan, NEOM was supposed to be completed by 2030, and the budget allocated to it was $500 billion. However, according to the latest developments, it is very unlikely that the project will be completed by 2030 and might be pushed to 2050. The delay in completion would also lead to an increase in the budget, with the estimated overall cost being around $1 trillion.
Currently, the Public Investment Fund (PIF) is financing the project. The PIF is significantly dependent on oil exports, which have not proven helpful in the past few years. While there have been discussions with other countries, there has not been any success in achieving financial gain. Depending on oil exports, more funds than would be required to finance such an ambitious project would be required. Moreover, the adverse effects of COVID-19 and financial damages have also led to a setback in the project.
Technological Challenges
With this project, the government aims to shift from the era of a smart city to the era of a cognitive city. Therefore, there will be many technological challenges around it. The Line is not an original architectural idea, as Miles Graves and Peter Enzyman had a similar plan for The Linear City in 1956 between Washington and Boston. Similar elements were included in the 1970s plan for the Delirious New York book.
Since it is an urban design, it is essential to adhere to technological developments. This will play an important role in attracting the potential audience’s attention to the new project. Not only will it attract residents but also investors in the future. If this information isn’t taken care of, NEOM will also become one of the unfinished cities of the Gulf.
Dependence on foreign skilled workers is one of the main challenges that NEOM is likely to face. This is one of those issues that is very unlikely to be solved in recent times. Proper measures must be taken to contribute to the Kingdom’s goals. Thus, quality private sector employment opportunities must be created to attract the attention of Saudis and encourage them to move away from their families.
Social Challenges
Social challenges revolving around native resistance are also among the major challenges that they are likely to face in the future. The Saudi government planned on taking the land from the Howeitat tribe in April 2020 because NEOM is situated in Northwestern Talbuk.
One of the members of the Howeitat tribe refused to hand over his land. In one of the YouTube videos, he mentioned that he is facing the threat of death. Soon after uploading his video on YouTube, he was shot by two police officers, which led to him being killed. This drew a lot of criticism from the local public.
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Another major social challenge was the dissatisfaction from the religious groups. These religious groups believed that the efforts to modernize and promote secularism with projects such as NEOM might only harm the country. However, these are just religious views as the project faces backlash.
Final Words
NEON and The Line are ambitious projects that can only be brought in if global investors take an interest in them. Comparatively, the financial challenges preventing the completion of the project are one of the major setbacks as of now. The government and Kingdom must work towards resolving all the challenges, both internally and externally, for the project to become a success.
