What’s Really Happening at The Line in 2025? A Ground-Level Reality Check

By 2025, The Line—Saudi Arabia’s ultra-futuristic linear city within NEOM—has become a case study in audacious ambition and mounting complexity. Once envisioned as a 170 km mirrored metropolis for millions, the latest developments reveal a sharply scaled-down reality fraught with financial, environmental, and ethical challenges.

🚧 Project Scope: Shrinking Ambitions

Originally pitched to house 1.5 million residents across 170 km by 2030, The Line now targets just 300,000 people in a 2.4–2.5 km core segment by that same year . That shift reflects deeper uncertainty: analysts say the full build-out is now pushed out to 2045 or beyond—a far cry from the original timeline .

Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund has engaged consultants—such as Goldman Sachs—to reassess feasibility and reduce cost overruns, with options on the table to revisit key design elements including scaling back height or discarding the mirrored façade .

🏗️ On-the-Ground: Construction Progress

Six months of fresh satellite images and drone content show that earthworks and foundational piling predominate—one active stretch near the coast (dubbed the “Hidden Marina”) sees most visible activity. Beyond this ~2 km zone, much of The Line remains untouched desert .

Within the Hidden Marina area, developers are building the infrastructure for cruise-hub amenities, residential blocks, schools, hotels, and shops—projected to cater to approximately 200,000 residents in its first phase.

Cranes, rail-bed prep, concrete batching, and road access are concentrated only in the central modules. Other modules across the proposed 170 km remain undeveloped and inactive

⚠️ Rising Challenges: Politics, Climate & Ethics

Governance & Financial Integrity

A high-profile internal audit revealed that executives—including external consultants such as McKinsey—relied on overly optimistic financial projections. According to whistleblowers, dissenting voices were removed, and McKinsey billed over \$130 million in one year alone .

Environmental Scrutiny

Leading climate adviser Donald Wuebbles, co-author of IPCC reports, warned that megastructures like The Line may disrupt desert weather patterns, including wind and rainfall, while cement emissions and desalination energy use are significant sustainability concerns

Human Rights Backlash

Forced displacement of the indigenous Howeitat tribe remains a focal point of criticism. Human rights groups and global legal advocates continue to spotlight the executions and evictions tied to earlier NEOM expansions .

📊 Status Table: Then vs. Now

🔭 What’s Next: The Road Ahead

• Feasibility outcomes: Saudi officials are conducting internal reviews to determine whether to simplify design features—like omitting mirrored glass surfaces or trimming building height—to mitigate cost and complexity
• Phase 1 aims (2030): Launch a central module zone with residents, civic infrastructure, and the Hidden Marina as a coastal anchor for commerce and tourism
• World Cup planning: The planned NEOM Stadium, a modular structure poised 350 m above The Line, is scheduled for finished construction between 2027–2032 and will host 2034 FIFA World Cup matches
• Environmental and governance reform: NEOM is reportedly debating its environmental steering committee and replacing key leadership involved in audit controversies, signaling potential strategic reset

🧭 Final Verdict

The Line remains emblematic of Saudi Arabia’s ambition to leapfrog traditional urbanism—but 2025 exposes a pivot from fantasy renderings to measured pragmatism. With only a few kilometers under active construction, financial doubts resolved through top-tier audits, and environmental and ethical concerns intensifying, the project faces an uncertain trajectory.

Still, Saudi officials maintain The Line is a strategic priority. Whether it becomes a game-changing smart city or a lesson in overstretched urban vision depends on how remaining modules develop—and whether the project can reckon with scalability, sustainability, and governance headwinds.