Saudi mega-city plans shift focus as longtime CEO exits project

Saudi Arabias desert mega-project NEOM is getting a major re-think as costs keep growing way past first plans. The project that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman started about 7 years ago as a $500-billion idea now needs more than twice that money

The projects main part called The Line - a huge 170-km mirror-walled city thats meant to house millions of people - is now getting split into smaller bits. Theyʼre now working on just a 2.4-km piece thatʼll have a big stadium (which will be used for the world cup finals in 2034)

Another key focus is the winter-sports area called Trojena; its gonna host the Asian Winter Games in five years. These sports places are now the main thing they want to finish first: making them the new priority for this Belgium-sized development

The project just saw its long-time boss Nadhmi al-Nasr leave his job‚ which shows how things are changing. Sources say he couldnt meet some important goals; and more people might follow him out the door. The whole thing is getting a do-over - breaking the huge plan into smaller more do-able chunks

The money situation isnt helping either; oil prices arent as high as theyd like and Saudi Arabia still depends on selling oil for most of its cash. Even though bin Salman said in 22ʼ that half the money would come from private business‚ no ones seen the promised stock market listing thats supposed to help pay for everything