The Line

"The Line" is a key component of Saudi Arabia's NEOM project, a futuristic megacity envisioned as part of the Vision 2030 program to diversify the kingdom's oil-dependent economy. It's newsworthy due to recent scaling down of ambitions and redirection of spending away from such large-scale urban projects. Several companies, including Eversendai, Webuild, and a Hyundai subsidiary, have reportedly cancelled their projects within NEOM, including those related to "The Line" and its associated ski resort. This follows a review of the Vision 2030 program after an $8 billion writedown in 2024 by the Public Investment Fund (PIF). The current relevance lies in the shift in Saudi Arabia's economic strategy, prioritizing sectors deemed more likely to yield tangible results over attention-grabbing, futuristic urban developments like "The Line."