The 10 regions that will make up the Neom mega project in the northwest of Saudi Arabia have now been announced, including an "upside-down skyscraper" and mirrored linear city The Line. Here we look at all 10.
Originally clouded in mystery, details of the planned Neom mega-development in northwest Saudi Arabia are now becoming clearer following a series of announcements over the past year.
Neom stated that the mega scheme, which will cover 26,500 square kilometres in northwestern Saudi Arabia, will contain 10 distinct developments that it terms regions. Aquellum, which was announced last week, is the 10th of these regions to be announced.
Of these regions, The Line – a planned 170-kilometre-long city – is by far the best-known, most ambitious and most controversial.
Along with The Line, Neom is also planning to create an Octagon-shaped, floating port city, a ski resort and a series of tourist developments along the Gulf of Aqaba.
Read on for details of Neom's 10 regions:
By far the best-known and largest project within the Neom development, The Line is planned to be a city for nine million people that will stretch 170 kilometres across the north of the country.
According to Neom, the entire city will be contained within two parallel, 500-metre-high, linear skyscrapers standing 200 metres apart that will be clad with mirrored facades.
The concept for the linear city was created by US studio Morphosis, with numerous other architects set to design individual, 800-metre-long sections of the city.
"I can't think of anybody that wouldn't want to be part of this project," said Morphosis founder Mayne in a documentary created by the Discovery channel on The Line, while Cook Haffner Architecture Platform co-founder Cook said that "if it succeeds, it will be a new Babylon".
The project has been criticised on sustainability and liveability grounds, as well as its human rights record.
Human rights organisation ALQST reported that three people who were evicted from the Neom site have been sentenced to death and UN Human Rights Council experts expressed "alarm" over the imminent executions. Saudi Arabia responded to the UN by denying abuses had taken place.
Set to be built on the coast of the Red Sea near the town of Duba, Oxagon is planned as a floating port city to connect with ships travelling through the Suez Canal.
The distinctive octagonal port, which was designed by Danish studio BIG, will be located partly on land with a large floating structure protruding into the sea. According to the developers of Neom, this off-shore section will be the "world's largest floating structure" when it is completed.
Along with the port facilities, the development will contain a cruise terminal and oceanographic research centre.
"Oxagon will contribute to redefining the world's approach to industrial development in the future, protecting the environment while creating jobs and growth for Neom," said Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman.
"It will contribute to Saudi Arabia's regional trade and commerce and support creating a new focal point for global trade flows."
Trojena by LAVA, Zaha Hadid Architects, UNStudio, Aedas, Mecanoo and Bureau Proberts
Trojena is planned as a ski and adventure resort in the mountains of the Tabuk region of Saudi Arabia, around 50 kilometres from the Gulf of Aqaba. The resort gained global attention in 2022 when it was announced that it had won the right to host the 2029 Asian Winter Games.
Being masterplanned by German studio LAVA, the development will be arranged around an artificial lake with one mountain topped by a ski resort also designed by LAVA.
The development will also include a 330-metre-tall skyscraper named Discovery Tower designed by UK studio Zaha Hadid Architects and a lookout also designed by the studio. The development will also feature hotels and other attractions designed by studios including UNStudio, Aedas, Mecanoo and Bureau Proberts.
Outlining the thinking behind the masterplan of the Trojena, LAVA project director Lukas Kronawitter said there was a holistic harmony between the buildings and landscape.
"People both experience the architecture and the natural landscape at once – there's a holistic harmony to the different components of the master plan that also creates diversity and variety that can be experienced at a daily level for the residents," he said.
Sindalah by Luca Dini Design and Architecture
Planned to be the first to complete of Neom's 10 regions, Sindalah is a luxury island resort that is under construction in the Red Sea near the planned site of The Line.
According to the developers of Neom the island resort, which is being designed by Italian superyacht and architecture studio Luca Dini Design and Architecture, will welcome its first guests this year.
The resort will contain three large hotels with 413 rooms and 88 villas, along with 333 apartments that will be arranged around a marina and several golf courses.
"Sindalah will be Neom's first luxury island and yacht club destination in the Red Sea, providing a scenic gateway to the Red Sea that will become the region’s most exciting and attractive tourism location," said Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman.
"It will be a destination where travellers can experience the true beauty of Neom and Saudi Arabia, above and below the water, making Sindalah the future of luxury travel."
Leyja by Shaun Killa, Mario Cucinella and Chris van Duijn
One of six hotel resorts planned to be built on the Gulf of Aqaba coast, Leyja will contain a trio of "luxury high-end boutique hotels" designed by Shaun Killa, Mario Cucinella and Chris van Duijn.
The hotels will be located within a valley with 400-metre-high walls, with the Adventure hotel, designed OMA partner Van Duijn, consisting of a series of stepped volumes that cling to the rockside.
Italian architect Cucinella will design the Oasis hotel, which will appear as a series of geometric forms rising from the rocks, while Killa Design founder Killa will design the final hotel, named Wellness, which will have mirrored facades like The Line.
Also located on the Gulf of Aqaba coast, Epicon will be a tourist destination that features two jagged, interconnected skyscrapers designed by 10Design.
The jagged skyscrapers, which will be 225 and 275 metres high, will contain hotels and luxury residences and be clad in steel.
Alongside the skyscrapers will be a beach resort with a 120-room hotel and 45 beach villas.
Another tourist development on the Gulf of Aqaba, Siranna will be a hexagonal-pillar-shaped hotel designed by architecture studio Woods Bagot.
Designed to "blend into the adjoining mountain", the 65-room hotel and 35 private residences will only be accessible from the sea.
"Emerging from the rugged coastal terrain, the hexagonal pillars are distinctive, yet complementary to the surrounding mountains and flora," said Neom.
"The architecture will pay homage to the heritage of the local area and seamlessly blend into the adjoining mountain and wadi."
Utamo by Ricardo Bofill Taller de Arquitectura
Also on the Gulf of Aqaba coast, Ricardo Bofill Taller de Arquitectura is designing an immersive events space that Neom describes as the "theatre of the future".
The venue will be accessed from a 64-metre-high entrance clad in staggered stone blocks.
"Utamo, like a film, needs a dramatic ascension, then a turning point," said architect Ricardo Emilio Bofill, the son of late architect and studio founder Ricardo Bofill.
Planned for 3,000 residents, coastal yachting town Norlana will also be built on the coast of the Gulf of Aqaba.
Designed by architecture studio 10 Design, the town will have numerous apartments and hotels wrapped around a 120-berth marina.
"Historically settlements have been founded by water, and so the heart of Norlana is the marina," said 10 Design managing principal Chris Jones. "It's this bowl of vibrancy from which you can migrate to the different communities."
The development will have a focus on sport and also contain an 18-hole golf course, equestrian club and tennis club.
Aquellum by LAVA and Name Architecture
Described as an "ultra-luxury upside-down skyscraper", Aquellum will contain hotels, shops and apartments wrapped around an "underwater open square".
"Aquelleum is an ultra-luxury upside-down skyscraper," said LAVA co-founder Alexander Rieck. "The facade's facing inwards instead of facing outwards."
"Things are inside-out and upside-down," he continued. "Normally architecture is focused to the outside."