Since Saudi Arabia announced plans to develop its Neom mega-project in 2017, it has been widely criticised by architects, engineers, and energy experts for being unattainable. Nevertheless, the Kingdom marched on, commencing works on several parts of its mega-city, including The Line (a 170-km linear city), Oxagon (floating industrial hub), Trojena (mountain ski resort), and Sindalah (luxury island). However, as projected construction costs have risen again and again, and several challenges have arisen, the government has finally decided to scrap its plans for a large proportion of Neom, instead aiming to develop giant data centres. Following several years of delays and rising costs, recent reports suggest that the Saudi Crown Prince and Neom chairman, Mohammed bin Salma,n plans to scale back the mega-project significantly. Neom was planned as a super-city, expected to be run entirely on clean energy sources, and due to open in time for the 2029 Asian Winter Games, which has now been postponed. It was expected to have roughly the same geographical footprint as Belgium, and house around nine million people by 2045. The decision has been largely driven by the economic situation being faced in Saudi Arabia, as oil prices have become more volatile, and key revenues have […]