Is Saudi drawing a line through its NEOM futuristic megaproject?

It was supposed to be a blueprint for how humanity would eventually live, a linear city stretching 170km through the desert, harnessing the latest technological and architectural knowledge to make the impractical possible

Now, architects of The Line, the centrepiece of Saudi Arabia's gigaprojects, are saying the dream of creating an ultra-futuristic city in the east of the kingdom might not be possible, putting into question Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's plans for a post-oil age that have already cost billions of dollars, according to The Financial Times.

Piling work has started with a series of metal pillars driven into the sand and deep trenches cutting through the desert, with the total cost of the project so far amounting to $50 billion.

These could be the only legacies left behind of a grand dream to build a linear city 170km long, 500 metres high, and 200 metres in width to house a population of 9 million people - in addition to a five-runway airport, a 'floating' football stadium, and a huge manmade marina.

"I think as a thought experiment, great," an urban planner working in Saudi Arabia told the FT.  "But don't build thought experiments."

Construction work on The Line has now effectively halted, with focus moving to a few smaller buildings surrounding the marina so that Riyadh has something to show for its grandiose megacity.

The reason for this is due to a series of flaws in the whole concept - a massive chandelier-cum-structure hanging precariously over the marina (which the world's biggest cruise liners would be able to pass through) is physically impossible to build, architects have said, in another blow to the project.

The marina itself would have no natural current, so it would require a giant pump to continuously circulate water to prevent the massive pool from becoming stagnant - and thus a biohazard - which would be a "significant undertaking", according to a planner.

Even the logistical elements inside the city appear to need revisiting, with a train starting at the airport to the other end of The Line taking only 20 minutes - but this would require no stops and carriages would not have space for luggage, meaning passengers would have to leave their suitcases outside their apartments to be picked up, up to eight hours before their flight.

The FT article lists a number of other huge challenges in the design that might be too difficult or impossible to overcome.

In addition to this are the costs of The Line, with lower oil prices meaning Riyadh has fewer resources to devote to the project, while investments the Public Investment Fund has made in businesses over the past decade, are yet to bear fruit.

The amount of materials required to construct The Line would also swamp supply chains for metals, concrete, and stone, driving up prices for materials and thus the cost of the project, which has gone from an estimated budget of $1.6 trillion to $4.5 trillion.

One source told the newspaper that to construct 12 modules of The Line by 2030, then a 40-foot container would need to arrive "every eight seconds” around the clock.

Despite Riyadh publicly scaling back the initial over-optimisitic expectations, even modest plans could be scaled back, although The New Arab could not confirm the reports.

Crown Prince Mohammed has made real estate and entertainment key elements of his ambitious plans to diversify the Saudi economy, which has seen him shift toward a future of artificial intelligence, cloud storage, and other technology.