When Saudi Arabia unveiled NEOM in 2017, it promised nothing short of a city from the future. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman presented the mega-project as the centrepiece of the kingdom’s Vision 2030 strategy to reduce dependence on oil. The plans included flying taxis, robot assistants, a 170-kilometre-long mirrored skyscraper known as The Line, a desert ski resort and a floating industrial city. Initially backed by a $500 billion commitment, later internal estimates reportedly put the cost of fully realising the vision at around $8.8…
