Content overview: “Saudi Arabia's The Line: Why the Desert Megacity Project Stalled”. Saudi Arabia's audacious plan to build The Line, a 170-kilometer linear skyscraper city in the desert, has hit major roadblocks, according to the latest Dezeen Weekly podcast. The project, part of the $500 billion Neom development, promised a car-free, AI-driven urban utopia housing nine million people. But reports suggest the initial phase has been scaled back dramatically, with only a fraction of the original vision likely to be realized by 2030.
Key figures like Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who championed the project as a pillar of Vision 2030, now face scrutiny as costs balloon and engineering challenges mount. The stalled Neom Stadium, planned to host the 2034 World Cup, symbolizes the broader uncertainty. The Line's struggle underscores the gap between visionary architecture and on-the-ground reality in one of the world's most ambitious construction efforts. This listing links straight to the original page, where the content is available in full.