NEOM is Happening! Construction Update 2023

The Line, Trojena, Sindalah, and Oxagon.  This is Neom. Saudi Arabia’s vision for the future. It's supposed to be an advanced,  sustainable, and futuristic megacity unlike any other. In October of last year, many  trailers and videos about the start of its construction reached millions of people around  the world. But somehow, updates regarding its current progress are difficult to find. So, what  exactly has been going on? And how much, if any, have they already built? Let’s find out. Starting

off with... ME. Hi, I'm Regis, and I've been hosting this channel  for over 3 and a half years now. Together with Luis, Freddy and our team, who  create all the videos in the background, we want to share the stories of the most impressive  & sometimes even insane megaprojects around the world. But why am I showing my face now? Well we  want to show you some insights behind the scenes and continue to improve our videos with each  upload. So we're excited about this next step. What started out wi

th very simple scripts &  editing has now turned into actually quite a big team working on better visuals and  more in-depth research. With Lukas, Allen, Hugh, Lidia, Daniel, and Simon that are  researching and translating the videos for our German and Spanish channels as well. So, Thanks a lot to every single one of you for all your support on our videos, and now: Here is the construction update of The Line: First announced back in 2021 by Saudi’s crown  prince Mohammed bin Salman, The Line is

by far the country’s most ambitious megaproject to date.  It’s supposed to be a self-sustaining linear city that would stretch more than 100 kilometers  from the Red Sea up to about the city of Tabuk to the east. The plan for the city consists  of two 500-meter tall buildings that would run parallel to each other. The vision is that  everything you need is within walking distance, and the entire city will have zero cars,  zero roads, and emit zero emissions. Of course an announcement like this

poked a lot  of reactions. Especially after drone footage of excavation work was revealed back in October 2022.  But since then, not much is known about the actual progress on the construction site. So, how does it look like today? According to the latest information, there  has actually been a lot of work done on The Line over the past year. In a recent exclusive  interview from the project’s executive director, it was revealed that construction of  the vital infrastructure is estimated to be 2

0% complete (2). This includes  important roads, offices, and logistics hubs necessary for future work on the site. These developments can all be seen on satellite images surrounding the entire project’s  length. And compared to images that we’ve shown from last year (1), there have been  many substantial changes to these sites. The Neom Community 1 for example, now looks  and functions like a complete city of its own. Complete with hundreds of housing  units, a school, a mosque, a post office,

convenience stores, and a bus station. The  community even has its own branch of Starbucks! Meanwhile, it seems that the excavation  work for The Line’s main structure has had some significant progress over the  past year. Looking at Google Maps, you can now almost completely trace the  beginning of the foundations from end to end. Excavation work on the coastal section known as  the Hidden Marina is also well underway (3). Once completed, this section of the project would  become the single la

rgest marina in the entire world. It would be capable of hosting up to twice  the size of even the world’s largest cruise ship, the Wonder of the Seas (3). Currently, work on  the Hidden Marina is considered to be the largest excavation project in the world (3). As much as  1 million cubic meters of earth are being dug up each week to make way for the construction (3). Aside from the excavation that has been ongoing since last year, piling work has also commenced  for the main structure. Over t

he past year, more than 4,500 individual piles have been  installed in a section of The Line known as module 43 (3). At its peak, more than 60 piles  for the structure’s foundation were installed on a daily basis. This figure is expected  to increase even further as construction is set to ramp up over the next few months. Finally, The Line’s dedicated underground rail system known as The Spine has also  received some major changes. As of June 2023, the overall scope of the entire system  has sig

nificantly been reduced. For one, the total length of the underground tunneling  to be done has been reduced by more than 30 kilometers (4). Additionally, the total number of  stations was reduced from 48 to just nine. With all this progress going on,  how exactly will Saudi Arabia fund it? And which companies are involved? For one, The Line, along with the rest of Neom, is directly financed and owned by the Public  Investment Fund. Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund which is directly control

led by  the crown prince (16). At the moment this $700 billion dollar sum remains the primary  driver behind the constant progress. Current Contracts with other companies mainly  involve the excavation and foundation work. Some notable names include the Keller  Group from the UK, Bauer from Germany, and the French Bachy Soletanche (17). Meanwhile, the state-owned construction company PowerChina is responsible for the current piling  work being done on the marina (17). Finally, Italian contracto

r Webuild and Saudi’s  own Sajco have recently been awarded the contract to build a high-speed rail line that  will connect The Line to Oxagon (18). But despite all the recent and major progress,  there are still many justified criticisms against it. For one, the inherent irony with the project’s  promise of sustainability. One expert from the University of New South Wales estimated that the  construction of the entire city would have a total carbon footprint of as much as 1.8 gigatonnes  of CO2

(5). To put this into perspective, this figure alone is equivalent to more than  four times the annual emissions of the entire UK (5). It's just not sustainable to stack all  elements of a city vertically on this scale. Also, there are serious concerns about human  rights. Many experts say that residents were forced to leave their villages to make way  for the construction site. According to the United Nations Human Rights Office some of  the protesters were sentenced to long prison terms and 3

even face, quote “imminent risk of  execution", because they were sentenced to death. This has definitely become a hot topic that  will also affect the project itself. Aside from being a terrible thing, it will also hinder  the project itself, because it creates hurdles in raising funds from investors around the world. We now take a look at progress on the next major development, which is Trojena: An insane luxury outdoor winter and skiing destination in the middle of a vast  mountainous dese

rt. Though similar in scale and absurdity as the rest of the other projects in  Neom, one thing sets it apart from the others. Saudi Arabia actually has to completely  finish building it in just six years. The reason? The upcoming Asian Winter Games in  2029. After a successful bid just last year, the Kingdom was awarded the rights  to host the prestigious event (7). The project was first announced by the crown  prince back in 2022. Just a few months before the country’s successful bid for the W

inter Games.  Located some 50 kilometers from the Red Sea coast, Trojena is situated within one of the  country’s highest mountain ranges. Ever since the project was first unveiled to  the public, there has been some steady progress towards its construction. Over the past year,  much of the work done on Trojena is the actual excavation process around the mountains to make  way for its many developments. A total of 1.6 million cubic meters of material has already been  excavated on the site for t

he creation of a giant man made lake at the center of the project (8). Progress on an area known as “The Vault” is also well underway. This is Trojena’s vertical  village which will be dug out from the surrounding mountains. According to  the project’s executive director, more than a million cubic tons  of material have already been excavated from the mountains. Foundation  work on the future ski village has also been in progress over the past year (8). Back in November 2022, one of the larges

t luxury hospitality and lifestyle brands in  the world, Ennismore, signed a partnership with Trojena. They aim to build two of their  luxury hotels within the project’s upcoming ski village. International hotel operator Minor  Hotels have also announced their plans to open their own five-star resort in the water village. As it stands today, the plans for the construction seem to be very well under way. And with  considerable progress in just the span of a year, Saudi Arabia seems to be committ

ed  to their very short 2029 timeline. But despite this commitment to their deadline,  there are still a lot of questions that are left unanswered. One of the greatest criticisms against  Trojena is the feasibility of maintaining a winter destination in such an environment. Although  temperatures in the mountains can reach below freezing, snowfall is still a rare occurrence.  To have enough snow for a functioning ski resort, this project would have to rely solely on  artificial snow machines whi

ch require a lot of water and electricity to operate. All of this starts to sound even more challenging when you add the fact that seawater  all the way from the Red Sea will be used for it. Not only do they have to transport all this  water over great distances and elevation, they also have to desalinate it first! But now, let's get to Sindalah: Another major project within Neom that is  currently under construction. It’s Neom’s luxury island resort destination off the city’s  coast. The islan

d destination is well-positioned by the Red Sea and is accessible either by boat,  seaplane, or the nearby Neom Bay Airport. Sindalah will be a world-class yachting  destination which features an 86-berth marina. The island will also be home to three  luxury hotels, a golf course, and an array of luxury restaurants and retail outlets (9). First announced just in December of last year, this major project is expected to be the very  first to open within Neom. Its developers plan to welcome the is

land’s very first guests by  as early as 2024. The success of Sindalah is actually very important to the rest of Neom.  As its opening next year will mark the very first opportunity for the public to experience  what this futuristic city is all about (9). Given its imminent opening date, construction on  Sindalah is actually well underway. Looking at satellite images from Google Maps, most of  the island is currently being built. Roads have already been built and the basic layout of  the buildin

gs and foundations have already been decided. Some structures around the island’s  marina even seem to be nearing completion. Additionally, much of the grass for the planned  golf course has also already been laid out. Marriott International, which has  already signed an agreement to open three luxury hotels in Sindalah, is also  confident that they will be able to finish construction in time for the 2024 opening (10). Meanwhile, to the island’s northeast, an entire community dedicated to the p

roject’s development  has also been set up. This area features various offices, logistics hubs, housing units, and  amenities for the people working on the site. Out of all the major developments  in Neom, Sindalah seems to be the most developed one so far. We spent a lot of time researching for the latest information and also editing this  video. So if you enjoyed this video so far, we would appreciate it a lot, if you subscribe. Finally, the fourth major project within Neom is Oxagon: A floa

ting industrial port city by the Kingdom’s west coast. To give a  brief background, Oxagon is supposed to be the business and industrial heart of Neom. It would be  a port city located in one of the busiest shipping routes in the world and serve various emerging  industries such as green energy for example. The project will also be home to the Port of  Neom. The future megacity’s main industrial and logistics hub. With an investment  of $2 billion USD, Saudi Arabia hopes to open the port's first

terminal by 2025. But aside from industry, Oxagon will also serve as its own thriving city complete with dedicated  residential, entertainment, leisure, and tourist districts. Some notable companies looking to  expand their business through this project are IHG Hotels & Resorts (12), Kerten Hospitality  (13), and Yotel (14). All these developments are set to open some time between 2025 and 2026  in the city’s very first residential community. Despite the lack of actual news  surrounding the con

struction, there has only been limited work done on the  project. Looking at satellite images of the site, some infrastructure surrounding the Port of Neom  has been built. It is worth noting though that some of these buildings are part of the older Duba  Port, which was recently transferred and renamed to the newer one (15). A little over to the south,  an Oxagon community has also been set up similar to those built around The Line and Sindalah. Compared to the rest of Neom, this one seems to

be the one with the least amount of work done. Looking at everything that has already been constructed, Saudi Arabia seems to be quite  serious about turning their trailers into reality. How exactly they will turn out  tho, well we will see in the future. I hope you enjoyed this update video.  Do you want to see more videos like this? And do you think NEOM’s projects will  become reality? Let us know in the comments, we’re excited to read them! Thank you for  watching and we’ll see you in the ne

xt one.