Recommended Free Tools
Saudi Arabia’s THE LINE is planned as a 170-kilometer-long, 500-meter-high and 200-meter-wide linear city designed to accommodate 9 million people within a 34-square-kilometer footprint. Those are the headline figures in NEOM’s public design brief—not measurements proving that the complete megacity exists or is nearing completion.
The project’s scale is genuinely unusual: it would combine a skyscraper-like height with an extreme horizontal length and a narrow footprint. But the construction record and 2026 schedule reports point to a project being reprioritized, with delivery no longer required by 2030 and further work reported as delayed until at least after 2030. This article separates the proposed build details from what has actually been documented.
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
A megastructure, not a conventional city
THE LINE’s geometry explains both its appeal and its engineering difficulty. A 170-kilometer structure would stretch roughly 105.6 miles across northwest Saudi Arabia, while its proposed 200-meter width would make it only about 656 feet wide. At 500 meters high—approximately 1,640 feet—it would be two and a half times taller than it is wide.
That produces a form unlike a normal metropolitan area. THE LINE is planned as a continuous, vertically organized urban system: an extremely long city with a narrow ground footprint and substantial stacked development above it. The length-to-width ratio alone is about 850 to 1, making the project more comparable to a linear megastructure than to a conventional city spreading outward from a central district.
#1 Best Overall
- It can be a gift option
- Easy to read text
- This product will be an excellent pick for you
Its advertised 34-square-kilometer footprint is also mathematically consistent with a 170-kilometer length multiplied by a 200-meter width, before accounting for changes in terrain and the precise shape of built areas. The proposed population of 9 million would amount to roughly 265,000 people per square kilometer if distributed across that footprint. That is a simple illustration of the concept’s density—not a forecast of actual occupancy or a measurement of completed development.
THE LINE’s official design brief
| Feature | Advertised proposal | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Length | 170 kilometers | A linear development crossing varied landscapes rather than a compact urban core. |
| Height | 500 meters | Skyscraper-scale vertical development along the full proposed alignment. |
| Width | 200 meters | A narrow footprint intended to limit outward sprawl. |
| Planned population | Up to 9 million people | A very high concentration of residents within the advertised footprint. |
| Footprint | 34 square kilometers | A compact land area relative to the proposed population and total length. |
| Mobility | No conventional streets or cars; high-speed and underground transport | Movement would be organized through internal and below-ground systems rather than ordinary road networks. |
These figures come from NEOM’s public project brief. They describe the intended end-state of the design, not a verified survey of a completed structure. No evidence in the available research establishes that the full 170-kilometer form, its 500-meter height, or its planned population has been delivered.
How the proposed city is supposed to work
Vertical urbanism
THE LINE’s narrow footprint requires the city to build upward rather than outward. Housing, workplaces, public services, utilities and other urban functions would have to be layered through a tall, continuous development. This is the central construction proposition: the project is not merely a long settlement, but a dense three-dimensional city intended to combine metropolitan capacity with limited land take.
NEOM presents the arrangement as a way to keep daily destinations close to residents. The concept calls for neighborhoods in which essential services can be reached quickly, reducing the need for long surface journeys. In practice, achieving that promise would depend on detailed neighborhood planning, vertical circulation, emergency access, utilities, freight handling and reliable connections between the different sections of the linear city.
Transport beneath or within the structure
NEOM says THE LINE would have no conventional streets or cars. Its mobility concept relies on high-speed transport, underground shuttles and other advanced systems. PIF materials similarly describe underground mobility as part of the planned urban model.
That distinction matters. “No cars” does not mean no transport infrastructure. A city intended for millions of people would still require substantial systems for passenger movement, deliveries, maintenance, emergency response and waste removal. The proposal moves those functions away from conventional surface roads and into a highly coordinated internal or underground network.
Those are design intentions rather than independently verified operational outcomes. The available evidence does not demonstrate that a complete underground transport system is operating across THE LINE or that the proposed travel times have been achieved.
Energy, nature and infrastructure claims
NEOM’s project materials also promote renewable-energy use, preservation of nature and a reduced infrastructure footprint. Those ambitions are part of the project’s public case: concentrate development in a narrow corridor, reduce road-based sprawl and leave more of the surrounding landscape undisturbed.
Rank #2
The environmental claims should be read as commitments in the design brief, not as results already demonstrated at full city scale. A fair construction assessment has to consider the energy and materials required for a 170-kilometer, 500-meter-high structure, as well as the roads, foundations, plants, logistics routes, utilities and worker facilities needed to build it. It must also consider the people living on or near the land selected for development.
What construction activity was reported
The clearest dated construction update in the available evidence came from a NEOM announcement on November 11, 2024. NEOM said work was focused on early infrastructure and enabling activities and reported more than 120 foundation pours per week. It also announced global partners for the master plan, detailed design and engineering of the first phase.
The announcement said neighborhood planning and design were expected to begin in early 2025. That wording described a planned next step, not proof that the entire first phase had subsequently been designed, permitted, built or occupied.
The Tool Desk
Outbyte Driver Updater FREEScan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →Outbyte PC Repair FREERepair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →Foundation pours are a meaningful sign of site activity, but they do not translate directly into a percentage-complete figure. A pour rate can cover multiple types of foundations and different sections of a very large site. It does not establish how much of the final structure has been erected, how much of the alignment is funded or how many residents could be served.
As of the available August 12, 2026 research cutoff, there was no authoritative, independently audited figure for:
- the final built length;
- the completed height;
- the percentage of THE LINE completed;
- the number of occupied homes or completed neighborhoods; or
- the number of residents living in the project.
Those figures should not be filled in with estimates presented as fact. The November 2024 construction announcement documents early work at that date; it is not a current completion measurement.
What changed in 2026
The most important recent development is a change in priority and schedule, not a formally documented cancellation.
Free tools Windows power users keep installed
One-click scans. No signup required.
On April 15, 2026, PIF Governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan said that no NEOM projects had been cancelled at that point, while acknowledging that projects were being reprioritized. He also said THE LINE did not have to be delivered by 2030. That was an attributed official statement and provides the clearest indication that the original timetable was no longer being treated as an absolute delivery requirement.
Rank #3
- Used Book in Good Condition
On May 22, 2026, Semafor reported that further work on THE LINE had been delayed until at least after 2030 as Saudi investment shifted toward infrastructure projects including ports and data centers. That report goes further than the official comments, so it should remain attributed as reporting rather than described as a formal cancellation or definitive project termination.
The responsible summary is therefore:
Saudi officials have said THE LINE is not required to be delivered by 2030, while a May 2026 report said major additional work had been pushed beyond 2030. The project’s headline dimensions remain the public design brief, not a verified description of a completed city.
That distinction is important for anyone assessing construction progress. A project can retain its formal identity and long-term ambition while being slowed, redesigned, reprioritized or built in a different sequence. Until NEOM or another authoritative source publishes a revised scope, schedule and construction measurement, the final outcome remains uncertain.
Do these 3 things before closing this tab:
1Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems2Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute3Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsTHE LINE is not the same as NEOM
THE LINE is one major project within the broader NEOM development in Saudi Arabia’s Tabuk region. NEOM encompasses a wider portfolio of proposed developments and infrastructure, while THE LINE is the specific linear-city concept described by the 170-kilometer, 500-meter and 200-meter dimensions.
Progress elsewhere in NEOM should not automatically be counted as progress on THE LINE. Likewise, investment in regional infrastructure can support the wider development without proving that the complete linear city is being built to its original design.
The human cost behind the footprint
Land acquisition is part of the construction story, not a separate issue. THE LINE is proposed across a region where people already live, including members of the Howeitat Bedouin community.
United Nations documentation has raised concerns about inadequate consultation and evictions carried out without adequate alternative housing or compensation in connection with NEOM. Another UN document described the proposed 170-kilometer linear city in the Tabuk region and said land acquisition threatened to displace around 20,000 Howeitat tribe members.
Crashes, No Sound, or Screen Glitches?
Random freezes, missing sound and display glitches usually trace back to one bad driver. Find and replace yours safely.Free scan · under a minuteWindows Errors? Fix Them Before They Spread
Repair common Windows errors and clear accumulated junk for a smoother, more stable PC - no reinstall needed.Free scan · no reinstall“Around 20,000” is a documented UN statement about threatened displacement, not a final census of people displaced and not proof that exactly that number was removed. The figures and allegations should remain attributed to the UN documentation.
This context complicates the project’s promise of preserving nature and reducing infrastructure sprawl. A narrow physical footprint may reduce the amount of land occupied by the completed urban form, but the project still requires land acquisition, construction access, foundations, utilities and supporting infrastructure. The question is not only how much land the finished city covers; it is also whose land is being acquired, how residents are consulted, what housing and compensation are provided, and how the construction process changes the surrounding region.
For a construction-focused account, these are practical project questions as well as human-rights questions. A megaproject’s scale is measured not just in concrete, steel and floor area, but also in the communities affected by site clearance and development decisions.
Why the build details are so difficult
THE LINE combines several difficult construction problems in one proposal:
Quick wins for a faster PC:
Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFind Drivers →- Extreme linear distance. A 170-kilometer alignment would create a long chain of work fronts, supply routes, utilities and access requirements. It would not behave like a single tower site.
- High-rise construction at unusual length. A 500-meter height is familiar in the context of the world’s tallest towers, but THE LINE proposes that scale as part of a much longer urban system rather than as one isolated building.
- Terrain and logistics. NEOM describes the project as extending across mountains, desert valleys and the Red Sea landscape. Each setting can impose different foundation, transport, drainage, excavation and environmental constraints.
- Integrated underground systems. Moving cars and conventional streets out of the design would require dependable below-ground or internal networks for people, goods, utilities and emergency services.
- Phasing. A project of this size has to function in sections before the full length exists. The interfaces between early neighborhoods, later construction zones and regional infrastructure would be a major planning challenge.
These challenges do not prove that the concept is impossible. They do explain why a foundation-pour announcement, an architectural rendering or a partner appointment cannot by itself establish that the final city is close to completion.
How to read future progress claims
Readers evaluating new announcements should separate four different kinds of evidence:
- Design claims: dimensions, capacity, transport promises and sustainability goals describe what the project is intended to become.
- Enabling works: roads, grading, utilities, camps and early foundations show preparation and site activity, but not necessarily visible progress on the final urban structure.
- Construction output: completed structural sections, installed systems and commissioned facilities provide stronger evidence of delivery than partner appointments or concept imagery.
- Operational evidence: occupied neighborhoods, functioning transport, connected utilities and independently verifiable residents demonstrate that a city is working rather than merely being built.
THE LINE’s publicly documented evidence reaches clearly into the first two categories. The November 2024 announcement reported early infrastructure, enabling work and foundation activity. The research available through August 12, 2026 does not provide independently audited measurements that would support claims about a completed percentage, full-height sections or a functioning 9-million-person city.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Bottom line
THE LINE remains one of the most dramatic urban-design propositions in Saudi Arabia’s megaproject program: 170 kilometers long, 500 meters high, 200 meters wide and designed for 9 million people within a 34-square-kilometer footprint. Its defining idea is to replace conventional outward-spreading city growth with a dense, linear and vertically organized system supported by underground or advanced mobility.
But those numbers are advertised design targets, not completed build measurements. NEOM reported substantial early activity in November 2024, including more than 120 foundation pours per week, yet no authoritative audited figure establishes the project’s current built length or completion percentage. In 2026, Saudi officials said the project did not have to be delivered by 2030, while a May report said further work had been delayed until at least after 2030.
Best Value
The most accurate description is therefore a planned megacity whose ambition is certain, whose ultimate design and schedule are not, and whose construction must be assessed alongside the documented concerns over Howeitat consultation, evictions, housing, compensation and threatened displacement.
Sources and status basis
This article distinguishes between project claims and independently verified outcomes. The design figures and proposed mobility and environmental model are attributed to NEOM and PIF project materials. Construction activity is based on NEOM’s November 11, 2024 announcement. The 2030 reprioritization is attributed to PIF Governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan’s April 15, 2026 remarks, while the reported post-2030 delay is attributed to Semafor’s May 22, 2026 report. The land-acquisition and Howeitat context comes from United Nations documentation.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is THE LINE in Saudi Arabia?
THE LINE is a proposed linear city within the broader NEOM development in northwest Saudi Arabia. NEOM’s public design brief describes a structure 170 kilometers long, 500 meters high and 200 meters wide, with a planned population of 9 million within a 34-square-kilometer footprint.
How much of THE LINE has been built?
NEOM reported more than 120 foundation pours per week and early infrastructure work in November 2024. However, no authoritative independently audited figure in the available research confirms the project’s completed length, height, occupancy or percentage complete as of August 12, 2026.
Has Saudi Arabia cancelled THE LINE?
It has not been formally established as cancelled in the available evidence. On April 15, 2026, PIF Governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan said THE LINE did not have to be delivered by 2030. Semafor reported on May 22, 2026, that further work had been delayed until at least after 2030.
How would people travel inside THE LINE?
The project is intended to have no conventional streets or cars. NEOM and PIF describe high-speed, underground or advanced mobility systems, along with nearby daily services. These remain proposed design features rather than independently verified operating results.
What is the Howeitat issue connected with THE LINE?
UN documentation has raised concerns about inadequate consultation and evictions without adequate alternative housing or compensation in connection with NEOM. A separate UN document said land acquisition threatened to displace around 20,000 Howeitat tribe members. That figure refers to threatened displacement in the cited UN statement, not a final census of people displaced.
What’s actually slowing this PC down?
Pick the symptom - the matching free tool is one click away.
The Bottom Line
Bottom line: THE LINE’s 170-kilometer length, 500-meter height, 200-meter width and 9-million-person target describe an extraordinary planned megastructure—not a verified completed city. Early foundation work was reported in 2024, but 2026 statements and reporting indicate reprioritization and a timetable extending beyond 2030.
Quick Recap
Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.
