The latest development has been announced for a $500 billion “smart city” in Saudi Arabia which will be 33 times the size of New York.
Developers of the Neom project have this week announced Leyja as an ecotourism destination within the confines which will sit at the Gulf of the Aqaba coast.
Leyja will be part of the Neom metropolis and will share the vision of the wider project in being free of cars and will operate as a net zero entity, Design Boom reported.
The destination will be within the ancient mountains of the region, and 95 per cent of the landscape will be designated as a nature reserve. Artist impression images have shown the blending of the mountainous region with the design of the architecture.
Around the five-star accommodation complexes, complete with world-renowned chefs and wellness spas, will be guided walks, rock climbing and water sports facilities.
It is just the latest step forward in the highly ambitious project.
What is Neom?
The name is a blending that takes the Greek word neos (”new”) and Arabic word mustaqbal (”future”) to form Neom - or ‘new future’, you could say.
It is part of the Saudi Project 2030, more on that shortly.
Controversial Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has hailed Neom as a vision of the future and a venture that will put Saudi Arabia at the centre of conversation in steps to counter the climate crisis.
Neom is a city of mind-bending proportions. It is a $500 billion project that will cover 263,000 hectares - roughly the size of a small English county. Not all of that land will have people living in it though, as much of the site has been reserved for nature.
Mr Bin Salman has ring-fenced an area of northwest Saudi Arabia for the project, close to the Suez Canal, near its borders with Jordan and Egypt. Its coastal access will make it a trading port and also, proponents hope, attract industry and trade. Mr Bin Salman has handed over day-to-day runnings to the chief executive Nadhmi Al-Nasr, who has been at the helm since 2018.
The key to the project’s identity is that it will be car-free and will use robots to help residents. The goal is to create a city of nine million who are able to get everything they need within a short walk.
A part of the city will be the world’s largest floating structure, known as the Oxagon, which juts out into the Red Sea.
The other half will be known as The Line. This is a 105-mile linear city that will preserve 95 per cent of the nature in the area and is planned to have one million residents.
The Standard previously reported that the region’s stark landscape might also be transformed by cloud-seeding machines creating artificial rain, the world’s largest coral garden and glow-in-the-dark sand.
A captivating new destination, Leyja is a stunning natural valley carved into towering mountains.
— NEOM (@NEOM) October 15, 2023
It will be home to three luxurious boutique hotels which encompass concepts of Adventure, Oasis and Wellness.#Leyja #NEOM pic.twitter.com/juIu1jrXFt
How much does Neom cost and who is paying for it?
“Neom is a new vision of what the future can be,” creators say on neom.com.
“It’s an attempt to do something that’s never been done before and it’s coming at a time when the world needs fresh thinking and new solutions. Put simply, Neom will not only be a destination, but a home for people who dream big and who want to be part of building a new model for sustainable living.”
And such a vision does not come cheap.
The project is estimated to cost $500 billion and is being funded by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund, of which the Crown Prince is chairman.
The same wealth fund is responsible for the huge growth of the Saudi Pro League, which has attracted an array of some of the highest profile footballers in the world.
What is Saudi Vision 2030?
The oil-rich state announced its intentions in 2016 to diversify its economy, improve education, and step forward culturally. Part of this has been a move towards the potential for the green economy, which Neom will be part of.
But despite the name, Neom could welcome its first residents next year, and it will also host the 2029 Asian Winter Games, despite its temperatures. Its overseas marketing has been a big machine, and the Neom name has been seen adorning advertisements around the world and being slapped on motor racing and cycling teams.
Construction is now well underway with thousands of workers on the site. While there has been progress, there has also been controversy.
Why has Neom been controversial?
Around 20,000 people have had to leave the area to make way for the city, including the native Howeitat tribe - who have claimed to have been threatened with weapons. The Saudi state did not respond to a BBC News article about deaths published in 2020.
In addition, while Mr Al-Nasr has hailed the “construction all over” to build the city, there are fears it has come at the cost of human rights. The Wall Street Journal reported last year that hired executives had left the project having reported an abusive work environment orchestrated by Mr Al-Nasr.
In response, a statement to the WSJ read: “Every allegation of misconduct or impropriety is reviewed carefully, and dealt with swiftly and appropriately.”
