Saudi Arabia 'may scale back 13 multi-trillion pound giga-projects' including luxury Red Sea holiday islands with funding hit by low oil prices, report claims amid fears 106-mile-long city The Line will be reduced to 1.5 miles

Saudi Arabia may be forced to scale back its trillion-pound giga-projects as the country's wealth is impacted by low oil prices, a report has claimed.

The desert Kingdom is understood to be reassessing its ambitious construction plans that include the much-vaunted 'The Line' - a futuristic mega city that was billed as being 106 miles long, but is reportedly set to be drastically shortened.

An advisor associated with the projects, who chose to remain anonymous, told the BBC that Saudi Arabia is currently reviewing the plans - which include the 'NEOM' project - and that a decision would soon be announced on its future.

'The decision will be based on multiple factors,' he told the British broadcaster.

'But there is no doubt that there will be a recalibration. Some projects will proceed as planned, but some might get delayed or scaled down.'

Saudi Arabia may be forced to scale back its trillion-pound giga-projects as the country's wealth is impacted by low oil prices, a report has claimed. Pictured: Concept imagery shows the planned 106-mile long megacity called 'The Line' 

The desert Kingdom is understood to be reassessing its ambitious construction plans that include the much-vaunted 'The Line' - a futuristic mega city that was billed as being 106 miles long, but is reportedly set to be drastically shortened to 1.5 miles 

NEOM is also set to feature a futuristic, 'ultra luxury' hotel named 'Epicon', seen in this CGI concept imagery released by the project

Another element of the NEOM project is a desert ski resort (pictured in concept imagery)

The Kingdom has also said NEOM will feature a mountain holiday destination

Launched in 2017 by crown prince Mohammed Bin Salman (MBS), the country's $1.5 trillion NEOM project includes 16 'regions' that are set to be built in the country's western Tabuk province that sits on the Red Sea.

NEOM sits at the center of MBS's 'Vision 2030', an economic diversification project that he hopes will transform the country from its current oil-dependent state.

As well as NEOM, Vision 2030 includes the development of 13 other large construction schemes, or 'giga projects', worth trillions of dollars.

These include several luxury Red Sea island resorts, an entertainment city on the outskirts of the capital Riyadh, and a number of other tourist destinations.

The giga-project that has garnered the most attention is 'The Line'.

It was initially billed as a 106-mile-long linear city stretching across an expanse of desert consisting of two adjoined parallel 1,640-feet tall mirrored skyscrapers.

The Kingdom hoped that it would eventually be home to nine million people, would be a 'carbon-free linear city', and that it would redefine urban living. 

The Line is seen in a concept video released by Saudi Arabia, showing the two vast mirrored structures stretching off into the distance

Other projects announced as part of NEOM include a new port city (pictured in CGI concept imagery) - just one of 16 'regions' set to be developed on the Red Sea

Slick CGI videos hinted at flying taxis and a high-speed railway that would run the length of the city and get from one end to the other in just 20 minutes.

But reports earlier this year suggested this was going to be shrunk down to just 1.5 miles long, and be home to around 300,000 people.

It is not clear how many of the futuristic features will be retained, with experts previously saying that such technology simply does not exist.

As well as The Line, NEOM is also set to feature an octagon-shaped floating port city, a mountain ski-resort and a number of island destinations.

However, the scaling back of the project has highlighted the funding challenges being faced by the Kingdom's government.

NEOM is being funded through the country's Public Investment Fund (PIF).

NEOM's official cost has been put down at $500billion, 50 per cent more than the country's entire federal budget for the year. But according to the BBC, analysts have estimated it would ultimately cost more than $2 trillion.

What's more, Saudi Arabia's budget has been in deficit since 2022. That year, the country began slashing its production of oil to push up global prices.

The government has forecast a $21 billion deficit for 2024, and while it controls around $900 billion worth of assets, as of September last year the country had just $15 billion in cash reserves, according to the BBC.

Despite the questions over the financial feasibility, Saudi Arabia announced a new 'coastal region' this month.

Christened 'Magna', the region is billed as a 'luxury lifestyle coastal destination' that will stretch down Saudi Arabia's coastline in its Aqaba region.

'The twelve destinations will span 120 kilometers and are poised to set a new global standard in luxury sustainable tourism,' the project said in its press release.

Magna, it said, is part of the Vision 2030 project and - it claims - will create 15,000 jobs and contribute 2.6 billion Saudi dollars (£547 million) to the economy.

The press release does not say how much the new project will cost. 

Pictured: Construction workers are seen operating excavators in drone footage captured in 2022 when The Line project began

The huge trench can be seen going into the distance as foundations for the incredible megacity are dug out in footage from 2022

Construction workers stand on the edge of a vast trench being dug for The Line megacity

NEOM was first announced in 2017, with MBS delivering a presentation on The Line in July 2021 - capturing the attention of both city planner, architects and the general public around the world.

In its original design, if built in the UK, The Line would have been able to stretch between London to Birmingham, or even from London into France.

In US-terms, it was longer than the distance between New York and Philadelphia.

However, unlike city sprawls we are accustomed to today, the vast metropolis would have been contained in two mirrored structures - each rising 500 feet above sea level, taller than the Empire State building - that would stretch out across the desert.

At just 200 yards wide, The Line was intended to be Saudi Arabia's answer to unchecked and wasteful urban sprawl, layering homes, schools and parks on top of each other in what planners term 'Zero Gravity Urbanism'.

Promotional material says residents will have 'all daily needs' reachable within a five-minute walk, while also having access to other perks like outdoor skiing facilities and 'a high-speed rail with an end-to-end transit of 20 minutes'.

For a train to travel 106 miles in 20 minutes, it would need to be able to travel at 318 miles per hour - 16 miles per hour faster than the Beijing to Shanghai speed line, one of the fastest railway lines in the world.

In his presentation, Prince Mohammed sketched out an even more ambitious vision, describing a car-free utopia that would become the planet's most liveable city.

Analysts noted at the time, though, that plans for NEOM have changed course over the years, fuelling doubts about whether The Line will ever become reality.

It was once touted as a regional 'Silicon Valley', a biotech and digital hub spread over 10,000 square miles.

Pictured: Concept art showing the inside of Saudi Arabia's The Line megacity

At just 200 yards wide, The Line is intended to be Saudi Arabia's answer to unchecked and wasteful urban sprawl, layering homes, schools and parks on top of each other in what planners term 'Zero Gravity Urbanism'

The Line's vast construction was set to extend from the heart of another planned Red Sea megacity, a plank of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's bid to diversify the Gulf state's oil-dependent economy - to the ocean

The futuristic megacity in Saudi Arabia was set to feature two massive, mirror-encased skyscrapers that extend over desert and mountain terrain

But it was also a vehicle for reimagining urban life on a footprint of just 34 square kilometres, and addressing what Prince Mohammed describes as 'liveability and environmental crises'.

The site will be powered by 100 percent renewable energy and feature 'a year-round temperate micro-climate with natural ventilation', the promotional video said - something that would be a necessity considering temperatures in Saudi Arabia can range from 27 degrees to 43 degrees.

'The concept has morphed so much from its early conception that it's sometimes hard to determine its direction: scaling down, scaling up, or making an aggressive turn sideways,' said Robert Mogielnicki of the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington, following the presentation in 2022.

Unsurprisingly, The Line - and NEOM in general - has consistently raised eyebrows for proposed flourishes like flying taxis and robot maids, with architects and economists questioning its feasibility. 

Officials had earlier said The Line's overall population would top one million, but Prince Mohammed said the number would actually hit 1.2million by 2030 (other reports have suggested 1.5 million) before climbing even further by 2045.

In a promotional video released by the Kingdom, it was suggested that nine million people could live in The Line at full capacity.

The eye-popping total is part of a hoped-for nationwide population boom that Prince Mohammed said would be necessary to make Saudi Arabia - the world's biggest crude exporter - an economic powerhouse.

The goal for 2030 is to have 50 million people - half Saudis and half foreigners - living in the kingdom, up from roughly 34 million today.

By 2040 the target is 100 million people, he said in 2022.

'That's the main purpose of building NEOM, to raise the capacity of Saudi Arabia, get more citizens and more people in Saudi Arabia. And since we are doing it from nothing, why should we copy normal cities?' Prince Mohammed said.

Residents of the project were set to have 'all daily needs' reachable within a five-minute walk, while also having access to other perks like outdoor skiing facilities and 'a high-speed rail with an end-to-end transit of 20 minutes'

In a promotional video released by the Kingdom, it was suggested that nine million people could live in The Line (pictured in concept art) at full capacity

The feasibility of the project had long been called into question. 

Architect and urban planner Etienne Bou-Abdo said of the concept images last year: 'the 3D images presented are not classical 3D architecture images', and the designers of the project 'have rather called upon video game designers'.

He stated that the plan includes 'a lot of technology that we don't have today'.

A number of The Line's key features, particularly those related to energy and transport, are based on technologies that do not exist even in prototype form.

While Saudi officials will have been left red-faced with the news that the project is being scaled back, it will certainly come as a relief to conservationists who raised the alarm over The Line's environmental impact.

Experts warned last year that the vast mirrored surface would be a 'death trap' for for millions of birds migrating between Europe and Africa each year.

As Saudi Arabia touted the finished projects sustainability credentials, researchers identified the construction project itself as one of the 15 most pressing conservation issues to watch in 2024. 

And experts have said in a study released in December that a combination of factors mean it poses a huge risk to birds that migrate over Saudi Arabia every year.

These include the mirrored facades, the city's orientation and the intention to have wind turbines along the top of it.

'Birds flying into tall windows is a serious problem, and this is a building that is 500m high going across Saudi Arabia, with windmills on top,' Professor William Sutherland, director of research in Cambridge University's zoology department, told The Times .

'It's also kind of like a mirror so you don't really see it,' Sutherland, who led the study, added. 'So unless they do something about it, there's a serious risk that there could be lots of damage to migratory birds.'

Treyam - another NEOM project announced last month - is an 'elevated haven' - a luxury resort, stretching over a desert lagoon, with a nearly half-kilometer long swimming pool on its roof

Looking like something from the future, the complex will stretch across a desert lagoon

NEOM is roughly the size of Belgium and situated on the west coast of Saudi Arabia 

Nightingales, wheatears, larks, sandgrouse and turtle doves are all species of bird that use the migratory route which could be affected.

Other species known to travel that way include the Egyptian vulture and saker falcon, both of which are endangered globally, The Times reported. 

The publication said the area The Line is set to occupy is already a bottleneck for an estimated 2.1million birds that travel between Europe and Africa every autumn.

It noted that every year, 988million birds are killed in collisions with buildings in the US alone, with the risk found to be higher in areas with glass or mirrored buildings.