The latest NEOM project 2026 update points to a shift from spectacle toward infrastructure. Work stalled after the longtime chief executive Nadhmi al-Nasr abruptly departed in November 2024, and his replacement, Aiman al-Mudaifer, launched what was described as a comprehensive review of the scope and priority of projects. A year-long review was expected to conclude by the end of the first quarter of this year or shortly after. Multiple sources say expectations are being adjusted as that process nears completion, with proposals for significant downscaling and redesigning.
The most famous symbol of the original vision was The Line. One description frames it as a linear city stretching 110 miles, with walls rising 1,600 feet, while being just 660 feet wide. Another report describes it as a proposed 105-mile-long city that developers had projected could house as many as 9 million people by 2030, while a separate account calls it a proposed 170-kilometre-long concept. Saudi Arabia broke ground in 2022, yet the project has faced delays, setbacks, and sizable budget overruns, alongside internal pushback on ideas such as an upside-down building.
From The Line to Data Centres: The Pivot Logic
Across reports, the redesign story converges on data centres. Data Centre Dynamics said Neom could be repurposed, at least partly, as a data centre hub, pointing to renewable energy, land, existing digital infrastructure, and coastal access for seawater cooling. Financial Times-sourced reporting says a nearly completed review will propose a significant downscaling and redesigning, and sources describe Neom’s proximity to the Gulf of Aqaba as advantageous for hosting data centers, with seawater cooling cited directly. This potential redesignation is also framed as aligning with an aggressive push for the kingdom to become a leading AI player.
Scaling back is described as broader than just The Line. One report says a new ski resort called Trojena will probably be a lot smaller and will no longer host the Asian Winter Games in 2029. Another says The Line will almost certainly be radically scaled back, though not necessarily eliminated, with architects already redesigning it into a more “modest” and radically changed project that uses existing infrastructure differently. Budget constraints are repeatedly cited, including softening oil prices, and one account points to a Wall Street Journal cost estimate of US$8.8 trillion by 2080, presented as a reason cutbacks could seem wise.
On the ground, some sources emphasize that more conventional construction is progressing more visibly than sci-fi megastructures. One report notes numerous camps across the desert to house 140,000 people working on the scheme, describing them as isolated settlements with fences and guard houses, laid out with standard blocks of housing around communal facilities. If NEOM prioritizes data centres, those worker towns and the existing digital footprint become part of a practical base layer, not just a temporary workaround. Separate reporting also notes talks where LG and Saudi officials explored cooperation on thermal management for Neom’s AI data centers.
The logistics angle is also being reframed, less as a futuristic city promise and more as a systems problem. A logistics-focused essay argues that point-to-point UAV delivery can bypass street-level bottlenecks and natural obstacles, and that the long-term future belongs to ecosystems that unify transport modes and automate handoffs between air and ground. Read alongside the NEOM project 2026 update, the theme is consistent: reduce dependence on a single grand urban form, and invest in networks, cooling, compute, and intermodal movement. The reimagined NEOM narrative becomes less Blade Runner and more back-end infrastructure.
What is the NEOM project 2026 update saying about the review timeline?
Is The Line still part of NEOM, or is it being cancelled?
Why are data centres central to the new NEOM narrative?
What changes are mentioned beyond The Line?
