Neom

Neom (styled NEOM; Arabic: نيوم, romanized: Niyōm, Hejazi Arabic pronunciation: [nɪˈjo̞ːm]) is an arcology and planned city being built by Saudi Arabia in Tabuk Province. Launched in 2017 by crown prince Mohammad bin Salman, the site is at the northern tip of the Red Sea, due east of Egypt across the Gulf of Aqaba and south of Jordan. The total planned area of Neom is 26,500 km² (10,200 sq mi). Multiple regions are planned, including a floating industrial complex, global trade hub, tourist resorts, and a linear city powered by renewable energy sources. Saudi Arabia claimed that NEOM would create around 460,000 jobs and add an estimated $48 billion to the country's GDP. Thousands of people have been forcibly moved to make way for the project and villages have been razed.

Much of the city is hoped to be completed by 2030, with the up coming Saudi VISION 2030 around the corner. though some experts have expressed skepticism about the ambitions of the megaproject. The project's estimated costs exceed $8.8 trillion (more than 25 times the annual Saudi budget). On 29 January 2019, the Saudi government announced that it had established a closed joint-stock company named Neom. The company, which is solely dedicated to developing the economic zone of Neom, is wholly owned by the Public Investment Fund.

Saudi Arabia originally aimed to complete major parts of the project by 2020, with an expansion completed in 2025, but fell behind schedule. By July 2022, only two buildings had been constructed, and most of the project area remained bare desert. In 2024, the Sindalah project was completed, three years after schedule and at three times its initial cost. In 2024, the project was reported to have been substantially scaled back from its original plan; however, this was denied by the Saudi Economic Minister, Faisal F. Alibrahim. An internal audit of the megaproject found extensive problems, including "evidence of deliberate manipulation", by the managers of the project.

Neom's construction has also been criticised for environmental and human rights violations, with expatriate employees describing abusive working conditions and members of the local Howeitat tribe protesting against their forced expulsion. Around 20,000 people are expected to be forcibly relocated. Members of the Howeitat tribe have been killed resisting evictions, including Abdul Rahim al-Huwaiti who was killed by Saudi security forces under disputed circumstances. Three other members of the tribe were also sentenced to death for resisting evictions.