There are ambitious urban development projects, and then there’s Neom, the utterly massive urban space currently under construction in Saudi Arabia. As The Observer‘s Rowan Moore wrote last year, a 100-mile-long city called The Line — a development that sounds like the stuff of science fiction — is just one part of the project. As one might expect from the scale and location of Neom, a number of concerns — both environmental and moral — have been raised about the endeavor.
That hasn’t prevented work from continuing on Neom, and now the first part of the project is complete. On October 27, an island resort known as Sindalah officially opened — and if there’s a target audience here, it seems to include luxury travelers with a penchant for boats. The Red Sea destination features an 86-berth marina which includes offshore facilities for superyachts. An announcement on Neom’s website boasts that the resort is 17 hours by boat “from key Mediterranean destinations.”
Turns Out Building a 105-Mile-Long Mirror Might Be Terrible for Birds
Could The Line have a cataclysmic effect on migratory birds?Sindalah’s official website points to the number of resorts and hotels located on the island, including properties from the Four Seasons and Marriott Bonvoy. In total, there are reportedly 440 hotel rooms, 88 villas and 218 apartments. Neom’s stated goal is to have “up to 2,400 guests per day by 2028.”
At the same time as it’s building Neom, Saudi Arabia is also bidding on the 2034 World Cup — an effort that’s been criticized by the likes of The Guardian‘s Nick Ames, who wrote of Neom that “[t]he earth on which the Saudi government’s flagship scheme is being built was scorched without compromise.” Earlier this year, Bloomberg reported that the Saudi government had moderated its plans for the development.
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