Three miles of the 100-mile Line city to be built by 2030

Only the first phase of Saudi Arabia’s futuristic 100-mile-long city The Line, covering three miles around a lagoon in the Gulf of Aqaba, will be completed by 2030, a senior official has revealed.

The entire project, a horizontal city inside the Neom giga-project in the shape of a straight line 220 yards (200 metres) wide and 106 miles (170km) long, now has a target completion date of 2045, 21 years from today. 

It was conceived by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman along with some of the world’s most prestigious architects and design houses. 

But speculation has swirled about the project since the government said in December that some parts of it could be delayed to after 2030. That came after it became clear that oil output cuts were failing to prop up oil prices. The Saudi government now faces three years of budget deficits.

The crown prince also said in September that a new economic development plan would be launched in 2027 called Vision 2040, effectively extending the current plan.