A leading climate scientist for Neom has warned that this futuristic megacity in the desert could alter weather patterns and amplify wind and sand storms.
Construction of Neom’s sprawling 25,500km2 megacity has been far from a smooth road. Located in the Saudi desert near the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aqaba, the project aims “to change how people live and look after the planet”.
First announced by Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in 2017, the ambition is for Neom to be an independent, liberal, high-tech megacity with its own tax and labour laws and judiciary.
It includes the 170km-long The Line – a linear skyscraper city of narrow buildings up to 500 metres high, encased in a mirrored glass façade.
While the ambitions for Neom are indeed lofty, work on the project has been very slow with various delays, cost overruns and controversy.
Towards the end of last year, Neom’s boss of six years Nadhmi al-Nasr abruptly left the project. A new acting chief executive Aiman al-Mudaifer...