The futuristic NEOM City has faced a setback as it reportedly canceled a project costing $1.5 billion.
Saudi Arabia’s $1.5 trillion NEOM City is an ambitious megaproject.
And this latest alleged development hints that there may be some truth to the rumors of scaling back the project.
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The first project to be canceled is – if reports are to be believed – the $1.5 billion desalination plant.
It was supposed to deliver up to two million cubic meters of desalinated water to NEOM City.
That was the 30% equivalent of the megaproject’s expected total water demand.
Megaprojects like NEOM and ‘The Line’ are developed in phases.
However, there’s no telling how much of the project is completed and if it can be delivered on time.
Phase one of NEOM City is set to be completed by 2030.
It might look like the megaproject is being scaled back.
However, Saudi Arabia’s Economy Minister Faisal Al Ibrahim has dismissed such reports.
According to him, all projects within NEOM are moving forward at full speed.
However, the reported cancellation of the water desalination plant says otherwise.
According to NEOM’s subsidiaries, the water requirements have evolved over the last year.
This would be the first time that NEOM has canceled a project, and wouldn’t be a good sign if it were a desalination plant that got the chop.
Water is one of the most basic requirements for residents if the city plans to house 90,000 people by 2030.
The water desalination plant would also have been a huge part of NEOM City’s sustainable and renewable development.
Let’s hope that we do get to see a futuristic city like NEOM completed in a few decades.
Otherwise, we might just have to wait forever to see a futuristic city like in the movies.
